


Dancing Out from Oblivion

by Serriya (Keolah)



Series: Dancing on the Edge of Death [3]
Category: Dungeons & Dragons (Roleplaying Game), Freelancer, Geneforge, Star Wars - All Media Types, Warhammer 40.000
Genre: Action/Adventure, Alternate Universe, Chaos, Dimension Travel, Drama, Eldar, Gen, Genetic Engineering, War
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2006-02-12
Updated: 2006-02-19
Packaged: 2017-11-18 19:00:09
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 15
Words: 68,497
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/564246
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Keolah/pseuds/Serriya
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>An Eldar comes to assist strangers in repelling the threat of Chaos.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Kalli May

After Dolen had had a few hours to settle in on the Karzan stealth cruiser Shadow of Doubt, there was a dinging sound as someone outside the door rang the bell.

Solitude, without thunderous clouds of impending danger and imperative need, was a welcome change from recent times. Even his long years spent in the service to Iyanden had not proven to be quite to restless and unnerving, and he took full advantage of the opportunity to remove his armor and settle into a peaceful meditative state, allowing his mind to wander as it will. He snapped from it with a start as the buzzer sounded.

Rising lithely from his repose, he padded to the door, the yellow and blue of his shipsuit seeming somehow at odds in the quietly neutral environment. He reached to press and allow admittance, a strange thought swimming up from his recent meditation as the door opened. And when, he wondered, an expression of quiet surprise rising, had he begun to think of Iyanden as something other than 'home'?

Outside the door stood a woman in a black Death Dancer outfit, her features bearing a distinct resemblance to Jenna and Emily, although she had brown hair rather than black. At one side she carried a luminite blaster, and on the other, a lightsaber. She looked at him warily as he opens the door, but she said, "Greetings. I am Kalli May of the Dancers on the Edge of Death."

Dolen schooled his expression to smooth calm, the appearance of the woman and her name bringing rise to memory of her part in recent events. "Well met," he replied politely, showing no hint of the questions and thoughts circling within. "To what do I owe the honor of the pleasure of a visit from the illustrious and well-known Kalli May?" He smiled lightly and stood aside, motioning in, "Come in, if you wish."

Kalli gave a nod of thanks and stepped inside, the door sliding shut behind her. "I figured I may as well meet the new arrivals on board my ship," she commented. "Although I must say I didn't expect who and what they were exactly." She shifted uncomfortably, clearly not particularly trusting him. "What brought you to the Shadow of Doubt?"

"Lord Sedder's plight," Dolen replied in the simplest terms at first, then expanded upon it, "It was he whom I first encountered upon arriving in this place, and through one misadventure and another we found ourselves in conflict with Chaos' plans at the heart of the Karzan Empire."

Kalli's face darkened on the mention of the Karzan Empire. He made no mention of her unease, instead crossing to the opposite side of the chamber from his armor and its array of weapons laid close at hand.

Settling to the floor with one leg tucked neatly beneath him, as compromising a position as he could allow himself without triggering his own reflexes, he continued softly, "I owe him a debt, the least of which I could do to repay a part of it was to seek out the person he spoke of at the last. Aviel."

She replied, "I don't know how he figured Aviel might help, but I suppose you ended up coming to the right place. I doubt I'd be in this position if it weren't for Aviel, even if she _had_ been a bloody manipulative scheming bitch in the past..." Kalli snorted softly.

Careful to show nothing, blanking his immediate reactions, Dolen nodded. "She has proven a most resourceful being, one which I might wish existed from whence I came. To scour the taint of Chaos? An incredible achievement, unheard of in other places. Chaos is truly an insidious foe, as recent revelations within that Empire has shown. Having subverted the Karzan gods, it would seem that Chaos has had a hand in manipulating their course for quite some time now." He tilted his head minutely, studying her expression as he continued, "They were likely the force behind the assassination of the former Empress and rise of the late Emperor, a theory well supported by their recent attempts to influence the next ruler there."

"I'll fight them however I can, now that my mind is once again my own," Kalli said grimly. "I cannot, however, find in myself much sympathy for the simpering hypocritical Primos nor for the corrupt and power-mad rebels. They've brought this all upon themselves, one way or another. And I don't know if I like having more pointy-eared types aboard after what all they did to me, how they used me and sought to cover up the truth, how they told me to lie about what I had seen out in the fringe worlds when I know damn well what I had seen. How they repaid my loyalty with lies and deception..." She sighed. "But I won't judge you on them."

"No," he contradicted her gently, "You have every right to judge me by your experiences with those with which you have dealt in this place. That is all that any of us may do, and only the harsh realities of experience may ever serve to truly change that perspective."

He leaned back, hands clasped over his knee and smiled.

"Ask Sedder of what he found one bright day on a distant world, come from a land even darker than this one," Dolen continued. "He might be reluctant to say so, but that Eldar was a brash, arrogant, and paranoid creature, fully at odds with a great many parts of this place simply because of his lifelong belief of what was right and everything else to the furnace. Bespeak Tarna of even more recent times and ask of the Eldar who largely refused to listen, showing but the barest hint of compassion, and would indeed have destroyed her with little provocation." He sighed softly. "The place from whence I came is bereft of a very precious thing which has begun to once more grow within, perhaps allowing me the opportunity to truly shift the utter totality of view to a broader scope of gray.... hope. Sedder, Tarna... you. To be cleansed of Chaos is miraculous to me, beyond the wildest of dreams. I would only hope that you do not allow that anger to give them hold, as mine may well have."

Kalli looked down, her expression softening. "The Empress Alisa sent me out into the galaxy to explore and report back to her whatever I found. I found planets ridden with plant life, and on them I found strange buildings of a construction I had never seen before. I thought it finally proof of the existence of aliens, which we had previously disputed as there had appeared to be no trace of them in the galaxy. But when I came back to her and told her what I had found, she told me to keep quiet, and not to tell anyone else about it. I didn't know why, and I was disappointed, but nonetheless I obeyed. When we went back to that planet months later, the buildings had vanished without a trace, as if they had never been there... I don't like being lied to or told to lie, but I've since been trying to figure out the truth about what was going on and what they were hiding from me."

"A warrior's lot is not a simple one, true enough," Dolen agreed. "To accept the command of another is to bow to whatever orders they might deem needful and obey them without doubt or hesitation, nor any real hope of finding what their need may have been. So has it been since first I set upon the Guardian's Path, long and long ago, but when you reach a point that the questions outnumber the answers, what then? Do you continue following blindly, or find another path to follow entire? Do you shut out all that has made you what you are and brought you to this place? Or can freedom and duty be merged and yet maintain a sense of self and honor? I believe you know the answer to that as well as I, so the question I will ask is this: Have you done all that you might to answer this burning question? I am certain that you do not wholly understand us, the Eldar, and the reasons that we act as we do. That is perfectly understandable as the ways of the humans are equally mystifying to us at times as well. Eldar are by nature enigmatic, which has left you wondering what, exactly, these ruins may have meant that brought about the downfall of your Empress. Did they have anything to do with it at all? And you will never rest until you find that answer and know that, at the heart of it all, you had some part in her death," he finished at a near whisper, respectfully hushed.

Kalli sighed. "I always think that I could have stopped them somehow, that it was my greatest failure that allowed her to die like that, but there's little now that I can do about it. And those buildings? It was an elf who commanded me to stay silent, and it was elves who built them. Eldar. El'dari. Whatever it is you call yourselves. But I had to find out the truth from Chaos, and not from those who I had sworn to obey. And whatever good ignorance to the public might have once served, little good it will do now that they're being attacked like this." She shook her head slowly.

"There is no truth to Chaos," Dolen refuted with firm certitude, "Oh, to be fair, they may speak just enough of it to obtain their desires, but their words are like the honey of a predatory plant; intoxicating, soothing, and ultimately leading to nothing save further destruction."

He lifted a hand before him in an elegant warding gesture.

"That is not to say that those you served were in the right, but by oath to them were you bound," Dolen continued. "There are two sides to that oath, however, and I rather suspect that Chaos played greatly upon that in events which followed. Though I must admit that the timing is strange, so close upon the discovery of these ruins and their utter disappearance, such would be the way of the Eldar to leave no trace... but to what purpose? And why did Chaos choose that moment in time to move against your Empress? The riddle of the ruins is one that you will have to solve, Kalli May, for greater and smaller reasons."

He trailed off in thought for a moment, reaching to bring his braided tail and idly following its twisted strands with delicate fingertips.

"These things are intertwined, of that you may have no doubt, as all things are part of a whole where life and the Eldar are concerned," Dolen said.

"I certainly don't have all the answers. Hell, I don't think I even have all of the questions, either, for that matter." She shook her head. "The timing on it _is_ strange... it was shortly after I returned from that trip that I was first contacted by the Urians, too... A little more than coincidental, I would like to think."

"Most probably," Dolen agreed, then shook his head, the long braid curling back behind him. "The question then remains what you shall do about it. As it stands, the forces of Chaos are striding the world and causing untold havoc while various factions are either siding with them or too busy struggling for dominance to do anything about it. Those with the power to act do not, for one reason or another, and those without..." He shrugged lightly. "Many are simply victims while others still do what they may, regardless of the cost. The world is placed delicately upon a balancing point, prepared to tumble into the brink of Chaos unless some lever is found to force it back and thwart their intentions. What odds would you place upon the idea that these ancient ruins possessed something which Chaos feared could do just that, and acted to bury once more?"

Kalli pondered for a moment. "You may be right about the ruins, perhaps... I still have the recordings I made of exploring the area from that time as well. I could play that for you if you think you might notice something of interest in it..."

Dolen inclined his head gracefully. "If you wish it, I would be pleased to view the recording and impart what little I may glean from it. Though I was but a simple soldier, such as I were often at the forefront when either reclaiming or destroying such places when discovered."

Kalli went over to a handy terminal and punched at it a bit, bringing up the recording on the screen. The time and date appeared in red numbers in the lower right corner. The voice on the recording stated her name and the designation of the planet on which they were exploring. After trudging through forest a bit, the camera came into view of the ruins. At first glance, they were clearly Eldar construction, even though there were also clear differences.

Unfolding from his seat, Dolen rose and moved to stand behind her shoulder. "There are parts of the design that I do not recognize the construction of, but as a whole it is clearly of Eldar make."

He leaned forward, freezing the display at a particular angle and touching one point with a fingertip.

"Here, a ceremonial plateau, where Seers would gather and summon their powers in unison, harnessing them to another purpose. This," he shifted the video back a few frames and at another angle, then touched a part of the unknown, "I do not recognize, though its proximity to the summoning circle might well indicate a power collector and perhaps amplifier. The design is something I have not seen, but the overall appearance suggests one thing clearly..."

Stepping away silently, he paced to the other side of the room, brow furrowed in thought.

"Such places," he offered with manifest reluctance, some things of the Eldar having great potential for harm if disturbed, "Were generally to store something, whether that was an artifact of considerable power... or a being of even greater."

Kalli frowned a bit, pondering over the images and pausing and zooming in here and there for a better look at things. "What do you suppose was there, then?" She scratched her head a bit and muttered, "I know the entire business has been nagging at me for some time and I can't put my finger on why..." It was her latent psychic ability, to be sure, but she didn't quite realize that yet.

Dolen turned back, folding his arms, and shrugged. "That I could not say, but what I may is that these places are..." he faltered, obviously struggling with a dilemma, then continued softly, "They are well-protected for a reason, Kalli May. There was just such a place on a world that the humans settled, they could not destroy it so they built their sprawling cities around it."

He snorts disdainfully, the folly of it amazing to him.

He continued, slipping into the storytelling singsong, "Long ago, the Eldar had battled Chaos in that very place, the cost had been incredibly painful for us, and the One that we fought was only slightly below the great Plague himself. In the end, we stood victorious over a blasted and blighted landscape, that evil entrapped within a temple and sealed away forever with the souls of the Seers sworn to protect it. The humans knew and understood nothing of this, forever their way to destroy and undo whatever they do not understand, and the evil within spread through minute fractures in the web to infect the minds of the ones dwelling nearby." He swallowed in reaction to the memory, the melody gone flat as he continued, "When we returned, warned far too late, the evil was nearly loose once more and the millions who once lived there rose to fight us."

He turned his gaze to meet hers, ghosts haunting him.

"Such things do these places hold, powers too terrible to destroy, or other powers too valuable to allow any to reach," Dolen said. "Which it may be... none may know until it is found."

As they were talking, Kalli was distracted and had left the recording running, not fast-forwarding past the scene of the death of her husband like she'd generally done when reviewing the tape. Accompanied by typical pithy Death Dancer consolations. A Death Dancer must always be ready to die. No fear of pain or death to hold them back or give them pause.

Dolen sensed more than heard the faint, almost sub-sonic, hum from behind her, the sound striking a harsh and familiar note that shattered the momentary lull. He crossed back in bounding steps, frowning as the image focused on the face of an obviously dying man.

"Wait," he muttered, heedless of interruption as he caused the machine to rewind and replay the moments before. The fine hairs at his neck stir as the sound replayed. Pausing the recording once more, he studied it closely, looking for minor details that one not familiar with the technology involved might well miss or interpret as something else entirely.

He glanced aside at her, his expression blank as he said, "You were fortunate that you set off only the subtlest of traps, Kalli May, though you may well have believed his death to be of a more mundane and explainable nature as coronary failure."

Kalli watched the replay, her face blank. She murmured, "I would not have believed such of Mike, generally. He was one of the best Death Dancers I'd ever known and had been for much of his life. Any Death Dancer of lesser ability would have been killed doing some damned reckless thing or another decades before." She shook her head slowly.

"Such installations," he replied softly, skirting the issue of the man's death, whether friend, family, or lover, "contain layered defenses, the outermost serving to deter natural creatures, which would not have even reached this point, the second directed at exploiting the physical frailty of most living, intelligent beings."

He studied the sequence through a few times more, remembering old teachings.

"This layer consists of a subsonic transmission of considerable power," he explained, "It is designed to disrupt the workings of higher life forms, but will fail against those genetically enhanced such as the human Space Marines. Several layers more would be found inward of this circle, each progressively more destructive."

He shook his head slowly, the conclusion drawn by the layers one that he's unsure he should impart.

"From this," he added with a sigh, "I can tell you that this was not designed to keep something in, they would have devoted far more energy inwards. No... therein resides something they sought with all the Eldar might to protect and keep safe."

"Is that why it didn't affect me? Because I'm a Cybion?" She frowned a bit thoughtfully at the conclusions, and pondered. "So there's something there and whatever it is must be more important than just some old abandoned buildings in the middle of nowhere that somebody forgot about," she mused. "But Chaos knows the place exists now..."

Dolen chuckled lightly. "They may know it exists, but you yourself said that it had vanished."

His humor disappeared suddenly as he remembers another 'invisible' structure long ago and far away.

"Or it may not have, if my own experiences lately are any indication. Regardless, it would take a coordinated effort to enter without the knowing of how to bypass the seals. That aside," he continued thoughtfully, "They may well ignore it entirely as all traces of it are undoubtedly destroyed within the El'dari hierarchy by now, perhaps at most setting forces to watch lest what lays within be retrieved."

Kalli paced a bit, deep in thought. "So what do you think we should do about it? Just... leave it?" She smirked, apparently expecting that sort of answer.

"You could no more do that than I could suggest you do so," Dolen replied softly. "Nor do I believe that it would serve the cause of the battle against Chaos well were this not investigated. I have given you all that I may from this recording, all that I must add is a warning to extreme caution and..." he mirrored her smirk, even to degree, and added, "The blessing of an Eldar in your endeavor. The time for secrets is not when faced with battle."

Kalli looked a little surprised at that and murmured, "Even so, if it isn't on this planet, I wouldn't know where to begin. But if it will help in the battle against Chaos in some way, shape, or form, I will do whatever I can and search as long as it may take."

The smirk transformed itself into the characteristic, Eldar version of the same, somehow seeming even more arrogant on the elegantly chiseled face. "And even now the Mon'Keigh do not listen when the Eldar speak." He mocked her, "Have you not listened to my words?" The hauteur vanished, replaced by a gentler smile and a mischievous twinkle to his eye. "I think you will need to return to just that place to find it, Kalli May."

Kalli smirked faintly and gave a short nod. "Then there I shall go." She flipped off the recording and cleared the terminal.

Dolen' expression smoothed, returning to the more customary bland. "Be careful, Kalli May, the secrets of the Eldar do not divulge themselves readily or without danger. There will be at least several more layers of defenses there, even greater danger than you might anticipate if my suspicions are correct, as they would have spared no cost in such a place."

She steeled her face and looked at him. "I am a Dancer on the Edge of Death. I was not born or made to live in peace and safety. By all rights, I should have died centuries ago, but for all the genetic modifications and cybernetics..." She went and leaned against the windowsill, peering out at the view of hyperspace shifting past the window.

Shaking his head in bemusement, he followed and gazed out. "There is a great difference in facing death with bravery and taking foolish risks. I merely warn against the latter, for what glory is there in stepping afoul of a net of powerful energies which sunder your very being to the Warp? Yes, such traps are not uncommon." He shrugged. "Death is not to be feared or courted, it simply is, even after the long years of the Eldar."

Kalli chuckled softly. "That is why most Death Dancers die in their first few weeks of being a Dancer. They don't understand where to draw the line, and cross it one too many times. Some believe that fleeing or avoiding a battle they cannot hope to win is a mark of cowardice and not befitting a Death Dancer. They overestimate their own abilities, and too willingly walk into death where it isn't necessary."

Dolen folded his hands behind his back, quirking a faint grin. "Is such not always the way of the new and hot-blooded warrior? They are invulnerable, capable of withstanding and defeating any opponent, and never mind that the wiser warriors around them are ducking or diving for cover." He chuckled softly. "The young are forever foolhardy, tis why the elder need watch over and protect them from their own folly."

"Heh. And now look at me. I'm the oldest living Death Dancer. They could only dream of spending five hundred years doing insanely dangerous things and live to tell about it." She looked down at her hands thoughtfully, almost sadly, and sighed again.

Dolen glanced aside at her sigh, tilting his head as he gently said, "The blood weighs heavy with long life, does it not? Tell me that you did not just consider your age and remember the countless deaths you have caused in that time." He ducked his head, turning it to look at her. "Tis both blessing and curse to remember for so long, is it not?"

"Too many," she muttered. "And before long, the lives of Primos seem worth little, for the great numbers in which they come constantly. You can kill a million of them, more, and they won't even seem to notice. The only ones of them I ever had any real respect for were the ones who became Death Dancers not long after..."

"You know," Dolen said, straightening, "There was one of my people who killed and killed and killed, no matter the blood that flowed so long as the cause of 'right' was put forward. Until one day something happened that changed what had been before..." He snorted lightly. "A simple thing called change, that those infected by Chaos need not necessarily be slain if they truly wished for something better. That Eldar found that there was a reason to consider any life as potentially valuable, that very few were immediately identifiable as true evil, and perhaps worth listening to rather than providing their destruction merely because of a label placed upon them. He found the realization quite freeing, all told." He stared out into hyperspace. "Do not return to Chaos, Kalli May, do not allow hatred for any thing or group consume you."

Kalli gave him a faint flicker of a smile. "Someone once told me that you must see the darkness before you can truly appreciate the light." She shook her head slowly. "I don't hate them. For all I had to fight them constantly, more often than not, I would shoot to stun or disable than kill them if at all feasible. Someone else once told me that it is by far a greater show of skill and discipline to not kill than to kill..."

"Discipline is the cornerstone of any warrior," Dolen agreed readily. "Though I might disagree in some aspects of your assessment. A warrior is needed only when other means have failed, when all logic and reason is gone, when there is no longer room for compromise. Their purpose is to remove their enemy, whatever the cost and whatever the method, it is for those who guide us to decide who lives and who dies. At least, for the greater part," he amended softly, "For a warrior must also know when a death is wrong and allow his own heart to decide. It is not a simple life, hmm? It is over such dilemmas that most veterans of my people meditate, to clear our heart and mind, to allow us to make peace with our ghosts, who are legion."

"I could kill a million Primos, and it would make little difference," Kalli said. "But it has been centuries since diplomacy and politics played any real part in the Karzan Galaxy. The Emperor wouldn't listen to reason, and most of the rebels didn't care to try to negotiate anything with them either..."

"To settle that region before Chaos can sink its talons further," Dolen replied, "Would seem to be an important project, though what would a soldier know of such things?" He snorted derisively. "Before this Emperor was your Empress, from all accounts well respected by all, to find another such to set upon that throne would leave Chaos one less bastion from which they might hide and gather strength to conquer the rest."

Kalli grunted and turned for the door. "I'll leave you to whatever it was you were doing. I have much to think about, and plans to make which I will probably ignore anyway like I generally do. And I'll have to see about trying to get Aviel to say just _why_ she wanted us to go to Lezaria first. Well, at least it's on the way, so we'll be able to get back to Karzan soon enough..."

Dolen turned away from the window and returned to the kneeling position he had abandoned at her intrusion. "Do what you must, Kalli May, and know that I shall aid as needed or asked. Tis not as though there is aught in this place for me beside what duty I may find here or there." He drew a deep breath and released it, preparing to return to his meditations.

She gave a slight bow to him and left the room.


	2. Discussions of Past and Present

Two days later, another ring came at the door.

Long practice and self-discipline had made Dolen quite capable of withstanding the dreary existence and boredom of time spent traveling from one destination to another. Meditation and honing the skills of his craft were quite sufficient to the task of consuming any number of hours, and it was possible to maintain a regimen of both within limited confines.

Armor worn and furnishings moved safely from harm's way, and a blade in hand allowed for a slow, fluid practice which both calmed the soul and tempered the flow of a blade. The sword stopped in mid-motion, hardly a flicker of its tip answering the disruption in the ritual, and he straightened slowly to turn to the door.

"Enter," he called simply, sheathing the blade.

The door slid open to reveal Sedder, who stepped inside with a bit of a bow. He looked considerably better, in clean, dark blue clothes and uninjured.

"Greetings. I'm afraid I was unable to give a proper explanation as to what the hell was going on when we previously spoke." Sedder chuckled softly.

Dolen' demeanor brightened considerably at the identification of the visitor, not so much a change of expression as a lightening of pose and stance as he offered a bow.

"It is well to see you whole again, Lord Sedder," Dolen said, chuckling lightly as he continued, "And I rather suspect, from what I have learned since, that you had little time to impart more than you did at the time. Please, make yourself comfortable." He looked around momentarily at the disarranged accommodations and grimaced faintly. "Please excuse the disarray. I required space to exercise."

Sedder waved a hand dismissively and went and leaned against the windowsill. Elkandu seemed to have this thing for leaning against railings and windowsills, for some reason. Sedder explained, "I did not expect my use of Time and Soul Magic to produce quite that result. Nor was I especially keen on sharing my mind with another version of myself, never mind what else..."

"Events rarely remain so readily within one's control once they are set in motion," Dolen replied. "Too many random elements inevitably intrude." He began idly returning things to their original places as he continued, "And what have you learned from the experience and that which has transpired since? Does it suggest what path you may next seek to follow?"

Sedder shook his head. "I've spent the last two days, apparently, in a delirious sleep, with little sense that could be made from the wash of images in my dreams. I've only just woken up not an hour ago finally. We're en route to Lezaria again? Just as well..."

Dolen considered returning a chair to its origins, then shook aside the notion, instead turning it around and draping himself over it in casual repose, studying Sedder.

"Just as well?" Dolen replied, not so much a question as an echo. "I suppose that may be true, all told, as at least one part of Chaos' plot was dislodged. Yet I wonder what you may think of the next that they set in motion, and whether you shall act against it."

"As far as I can tell," Sedder said, "Just about anything. From all I can tell, there's a million in one chance for _every_ damned thing... Makes trying to gauge anything next to useless, really." He leaned against the window frame, gazing out at hyperspace rushing past them.

"All that power," Dolen chuckled lightly, resting his head upon folded arms. "And yet it is still the vagaries of fate to which you are bound. I do not envy that ability, in the least; far better to consider the possibilities, act in one direction, and be wrong, than to know all the myriad ways and still leap in the incorrect direction. At least, for peace of mind and the ability to sleep nights," he added with quiet humor.

"There's a reason why I tend to prefer not to use it when I can absolutely help it," Sedder smirked. "I'd much rather rely on my other abilities." He lifted a hand, letting it glow faintly for a moment, and lowered it again. "Thankfully I'm not an inborn Chronomancer, even though I spent a wish to attain that ability, so I'm not plagued with it constantly and unable to turn it off, so to speak."

"That would seem to be quite wearisome," Dolen agreed readily, remembering the not-quite-normal reserve of many Seers. "So rely upon logic and reason, then, and set your powers to those ends. The question, barring the input of such extraordinary means, still remains as to what next you plan to do. Is your homeworld your destination, or merely one step to the next?"

"Chaos must be stopped, somehow. I don't know how, but I'm damn well going to try," Sedder said, staring off pensively. "The Eyes of Truth may be helpful in that matter as well. I'll also want to speak to the others aboard this ship and see if they've come up with any other useful developments..."

"Ask the gardener," Dolen replied with a greater than usual cryptic segue. "Walk the paths of a sculpted garden, viewing the well-tended and beautiful results of his art, all the elements 'just so' to appeal to the senses. Ask him if that perfection comes naturally, or if there are thornier problems to contend with. He will not speak of their current beauty, but of the trials and tribulations which led up to it. Consider Chaos as the weed to that garden, and yourself the Gardener, as I have seen some measure of the power you wield I think the comparison is not mis-fitting. Your garden shall regain its perfection one weed removed at a time, only rarely are they removed as a whole and the methods used often causing as much destruction as the original infestation."

Sedder chuckled softly, and said, "'To save one soul is to save the entire world,' they said to me." He looked off quietly for a long moment and finally said, "I don't think I ever really thought I'd end up looking at things from this side, after everything... The Drakandu... Tempest..."

"Drakandu? Tempest?" Dolen asked with a quirked grin. "Did your last days cause you to wholly forget that I would have no knowledge of these things? Rather difficult to play a sympathetic ear when you insist on such references without expanding upon their nature."

It was strange, but Dolen was finding himself slowly more at ease with the people of this world, despite the fact of their utterly alien nature.

Sedder chuckled softly. "Just thinking aloud. They're factions of the Elkandu. There were originally three factions: The Rezalkandu, the Drakandu, and the Kalkandu. They each had different philosophies and outlooks on the universe. There were a number of minor factions that sprung up during the Age of the Rogue Winds: the Benkandu, the Eryckandu, the Zenkandu..."

"Mm-hmm?" Dolen offered in polite encouragement, content to distract the man from his brooding if nothing else. There was also, he admitted ruefully, a great deal of information that he had no access to otherwise, and such frames of reference could be vital when deciding upon action in this improbable and odd universe.

"Originally there was only the Elkandu, the group started by Keolah, but she imposed a strict policy of exploring and observing but never interfering. Many of the Elkandu didn't like that, and formed the Drakandu and the Kalkandu, leaving the main group to be called the Rezalkandu, the Watchers. The Drakandu valued freedom above all other things, even if people got hurt sometimes. The Kalkandu, on the other hand, wanted to help the 'mensch'... And improve their lives, or so they thought they were doing, although they themselves had their own hypocrisies..."

"Even the noblest of intentions may run afoul of conflicting opinion," Dolen responded with light amusement. "The varying factions sound as though they sought an ideal, rather than seeking some sort of intermediate ground which might actually function quite better as a whole. Freedom without constraint? Anarchy. Observation without interfering? Perhaps construed by some as cowardice." He chuckled softly. "Oh, the many faces of life. I find the variety here to be quite refreshing."

"Yeah... The Rezalkandu's philosophy was the one most often thrown out the window, especially when people started shooting at them." He chuckled as well. "The Eryckandu sought to bring 'order' and 'justice', or at least their idea thereof. The Benkandu were insane cultists. The Zenkandu were an oxymoronic society of hermits..."

"On reflection," Dolen replied thoughtfully, "I could see similar factions mirrored in other places, though the lines were more readily drawn by race. The humans were comprise of a totalitarian, repressive regime while the Orks reveled in the exact opposite, near anarchy save for the occasional 'warboss' who was strong enough to band them together and set their violent natures on a more organized route. We Eldar?" he drew out a contemplative moment, then went on, "Perhaps we set ourselves too far apart in our own way, retreating from the others save the occasional fierce battles against encroaching forces. Never shall the people of any universe see readily eye-to-eye and without dissent, I think."

"But that all changed in the times leading up to the Planar Wars," Sedder went on. "The old factions were disbanded and new ones took their places, often with little more than a name change and a shifting of leadership. Tempest, Darkhammer, Whitefire, Conclave, and the Watchers, were the new factions, although most didn't consider the Watchers to really be a true faction. It was primarily the first four who fought the Planar Wars. Tempest was all about freedom, anarchy, and excessive use of alcoholic substances. Darkhammer sought to rule the universe with an iron fist. Whitefire wanted to 'purify' everything that they thought was 'evil', which was everything that wasn't Whitefire. Conclave primarily wanted to be left alone, but defended themselves when necessary."

Dolen merely continues to listen, considering the parallels between the two universes, the similarities only serving to make the differences all the stranger.

"I was second in command of the Drakandu, and then later of Tempest," Sedder explained. "The Planar Wars were a terrible time, and one I'm glad to have missed, that nearly resulted in the universe being destroyed. But it wasn't until the War of Planar Dominance that the faction war finally really ended, both Darkhammer and Whitefire being destroyed by Tempest agents, and Conclave surrendered. But Conclave is the only faction still active... Tempest was disbanded after its leader was executed for nuking an entire universe two years ago."

"So," Dolen posed, "If I read this aright, only the Elkandu and Conclave are still existent. Both of them largely placing themselves above the idea of interacting in any direct fashion with the universe around them. That is, perhaps, not the most encouraging of revelations."

Dolen tell silent, troubled at the idea, wondering where, precisely, those who would seek to thwart Chaos might arise.

"These days, the term 'Elkandu' refers to any member of any faction or no faction. A generic term for any of the semi-immortal mages that travel the various worlds... Most of them have been hanging around Torn Elkandu and other places getting drunk." Sedder snorted.

Dolen sighed, straightening in his seat and shaking his head. "That, as well as what I have observed, does not bode well for the conflict which engulfs this place. In other places, entire worlds are mobilized to staunch the blood flowing at the talons of Chaos; in this place are powers greater than any I have ever known, yet they sit idly by and do nothing, and no indication of any world mobilizing is seen. If no one will fight, then Chaos will become victor simple by default, and what this universe will descend into will be a hell beyond their imagining. They might well wish they had acted, but it will be for naught if it is not sooner than late."

"There was one group that fought them... they called themselves the Army of Order," Sedder explained. "It was made up of an assortment of angels and former members of Tempest and Whitefire. I believe most of those who were with that group are now on the Eyes of Truth, though. The mess with the Time-Change really screwed up a lot of their plans and organization."

"Most of them upon the Eyes of Truth?" Dolen retorted, "I remember the list of crew that I saw before, Lord Sedder, and even should every single one of them be such a one, their numbers are inadequate to the task. Chaos is not a homogenous entity, its four separate parts often spreading out and working to their own purpose, often infesting a broad swath without anyone even taking note." He smirked. "Your Eyes of Truth is just such an example, in fact, only the smallest portion of Chaos' interest was diverted to it and yet you saw the extent of the corruption. Much more will need be done to stem that tide, although..." He lost much of his animation, returning to the casual rest. "I could not even begin to fathom a starting point amongst a universe which is not ready for war."

"Not ready for war with outsiders, really," Sedder corrected him. "The Elkandu have been at war with one another ever since they have existed. They did not anticipate the coming of Chaos or the tactics they use, as they've been only used to fighting one another. But no. There are not a lot of Elkandu. Thousands? I would give it fifty thousand true Elkandu at the most. Billions of mensch and mibis, but only thousands of Elkandu."

"It is not necessarily the greatest of powers which might turn the tide," Dolen replied, "Most often such entities serve to command and inspire those beneath them, but it is the well-armed and trained, organized masses which inevitably make the war possible at all. Slay their leaders and the masses will flee, but to get to them you need your own armies to cut through in the first place."

"And see, that's why Elkandu battles tend to not last particularly long," Sedder said. "We don't mess around with sieges or battlefield tactics. We tend to just go straight to the heart of the matter and deal with things directly. Darkhammer did not fall on the battlefield. It fell when their second-in-command betrayed their leader..."

"It is well to propose such a thing," Dolen said, "Yet another matter entire in the face of what is battled here. Already had the Chaos Gods destroyed this place once, by all accounts, and the best achieved upon the remaking was to bind them against doing so again. How does one destroy a god, then? It is that dilemma upon which this all rests, for to do anything less ultimately means nothing more than a delay to their plans."

Sedder reached into his pocket and pulled out a little gold pin in the shape of a cloud and lightning bolt. "I once believed it was possible," he commented. "And my last attempt at rallying Tempest together again was to do just that. But as it turned out, these pins that were supposed to grant protection had been only given so by Shazmar, and he tricked me and laughed at me after making sure that no other deity would take me..."

"It is well and good to speak of it," Dolen said, "But until such a time as a means is found to destroy those Foul Gods, then only their machinations may be attended to. That, then, is where the great armies I spoke of are most useful. Consider Lezaria as an example: a world ravaged by Chaos, but what might well have been saved were the people there ready in all ways to combat the enemy upon their own terms?" He shook his head gently. "Until one of the numerous powerful beings which may serve as gods in this place decide to act, then the Four themselves will remain undefeatable. In all likelihood, it shall take a God to slay a God, as has happened before in other realms."

Sedder turned the pin over in his hands a few times before putting it away again. "Shazmar has always protected us when things got bad, before, but he always waits until the last possible minute to bother doing anything about it. I wouldn't exactly call him reliable by any means, as he tends to intervene only if there's really no other option... But there are others..."

"The Laughing God does not readily act either," Dolen replied with chagrin. "Save in ways which might make no sense to any sane being at the time, only to find that the jest was far different than originally perceived when it is fully realized." He turned aside the idle muse and returned to the point at hand. "Yet you speak of others, ones which might well aid in more direct fashion?"

"Heh, if I didn't know better I'd think you were describing Shazmar..." Sedder gave a nod. "Perhaps... They haven't really shown themselves for centuries, but I know they must be around somewhere... Clizhennozuri, Sarhabinse, Ozerazelvin..."

"Any avenue of potential aid is something to be considered," Dolen replied levelly. "Though gods may die, it is unlikely that such entities would fall so deeply into somnolence as to be wholly unavailable should the proper methods be pursued. Those of us mere mortals," he continued with a faint grin, "Needs must find other ways to stem Chaos, wherever their tentacles may fester."

"Clizhennozuri was the only one of them I ever had any real direct experience with," Sedder said. "The Streamsinger, goddess of the wilderness, found only far from civilization near free-flowing water. She was fairly enigmatic in imparting wisdom and offered a number of cryptic and vague riddles that didn't really make much sense at the time. Heh."

Dolen laughed lightly, "That one sounds much the kindred spirit to the Eldar, then. It might prove less difficult than might be believed to win the favor of such a one, particularly as their domain would seem to be one quite often endangered by the destructive impulses of the Chaos Gods."

"Sarhabinse, on the other hand, is the ancient god of the elves..." Sedder mused. "All but forgotten in the mists of time, but he'd apparently taken it upon himself to protect the new 'elves' of Lezaria after the War of Transformation..."

"And the third?" Dolen asked, silently musing upon the first two and their readily discernible connection to his own race in this land. It was an odd development, as the beings possessing the greater power were the Elkandu. Strange indeed.

"Ozerazelvin is the god of... um... visions," Sedder said. "There are others, of course. Panabinse is the god of humans, but nobody hears much of him. And really, the Ten Rings were supposed to have been gods imprisoned within powerful stones, as well..."

"Ancient artifacts are sometimes greater liability than aid," Dolen replied, though recent conversation with the Death Dancer gave him considerable material to think upon in that regard. "As are the gods, but tis likely one of these which may best stand against the ruinous powers themselves, while the remainder of the universe either waits with bated breath or perform their own parts upon the cosmic stage."

"The Ten Rings are currently lost or destroyed now, at any rate. There's only three ancient artifacts of significant importance in the current day and age," Sedder commented thoughtfully. "The Zarnith, the Crown of Sorcery, and the Daggerstone. Together the three of them were capable of changing the universe and time itself. But the Daggerstone is saturated with Time Magic, and appears and vanishes seemingly randomly. The Crown of Sorcery is carefully hidden away in an unknown location... and the Zarnith is only useable by the Heir of the Children of the Dragon's Blood. Generations ago, the powerful enchanter Zarnith crafted a mighty blade, and trapped his own soul within it to grant that power to future generations... I don't know who has the sword at the moment..."

"Aside the small detail of finding such artifacts in the first," Dolen replied with a glint of amusement. "Relying upon them tis not always wise. Such are often created by Gods or those who aspire to become them, and oft attached with purpose of their own. One might well risk their soul entire to being absorbed into that reason, nothing else remaining of importance to them. Though I suppose a point may be made in some cases, as Tarna's possessed blade."

"And then there's Sardill," Sedder said, "Although he doesn't generally call himself a god, the distinction is a fairly moot point for the most part. It was him who dealt with Chaos the last time, before the Time-Change. Just a wave of his hand... But then, he's even less reliable than Shazmar, and is as likely to make matters worse as make them better."

"And so it would seem that, despite all wishes to the contrary," Dolen replied, "We are likely to be left to our own devices in this, to strive as well as may be done against the foe without aid from greater powers. It would be far preferable otherwise, I am certain, as the changes which are inevitable to result are likely to be less than pleasant."

"Perhaps we will find more answers once we reach Lezaria," Sedder mused. "But I'll not count on it. Hope for the best, prepare for the worst. If it's any small consolation, it appeared that a number of people had evacuated from Lezaria before the fleet arrived..."

"Even the smallest of victories," Dolen acknowledged, "are to be rejoiced. Those who escaped may well soon be able to return to that world and begin rebuilding, once the last vestiges of Chaos are eradicated. It should be possible for them to be nearly returned to normal by the time Chaos returns its attention to them following its current operations."

Sedder pondered for a long moment, "The loss of Theryn was a hard blow. But... I'm a bloody Chronomancer. Can't I do something about it? There won't be a damned thing to do if we got all the Chronomancers against them..." His eyes widened a bit at the realization.

"Though I have seen reason to respect the powers of which you speak," Dolen tempered with caution, "Do not forget the powers which are arrayed against you in this. Could a gathering of such of your Chronomancers affect entities intertwined with the very fabric of the universe? You would know better than I."

"They could, at best, prevent their followers from causing anymore damage within the Elkandu Universe..." Sedder peered off at nothing for a long moment. "In fact, it appears that that's precisely what they were trying to do..." Sedder shook his head slowly. "But no. Only a true Ethereal Mage could hope to affect them directly."

"So do what you may to affect their actions," Dolen replied without hesitation. "The core of the problem may yet remain, but the spread of their disease is certainly the greatest issue which must be addressed for the sheer number of souls that are endangered by them. Such holding tactics are not unfamiliar to me, for that is all that we knew to be possible, and only here are such hopes of a final solution seemingly at hand."

"Unfortunately, most of the Ethereal Mages that I know of are siding with Chaos at the moment," Sedder said with a sigh. "But as far as I can tell from here, they've been trying to pick up the pieces on Lezaria and repair what damage they can."

"So for now," Dolen replied, rising from his seat and turning a hand upward in helpless acceptance. "All we may do is wait and hope. Further planning will doubtless be required, but without solid information to work upon all that we may do is circle round vague possibilities. I think both of us may be well served by time to mull what we already know and suspect."

Sedder gave a nod. "Indeed. We should arrive in five days, barring any unforeseen circumstances, at least. I'll see you around." He headed out.


	3. Waking the Dreamers

Various people were on the bridge, including the captain who had not bothered to give an introduction, Kalli, Sedder, Aviel, Tarna, and several guys in red shirts.

Dolen could feel a rising sense of something which was uncommon for his race, in fact it had taken him nearly the entire length of their journey to properly identify it: impatience. Too much time was passing them by while Chaos was freely continuing to pursue, alter, and re-initiate their plans, and yet nothing of particular moment was being done to address the issue.

He was becoming frustrated with the almost lackluster approach so many in this place seemed to affect as their natural state, and that emotion showed in the faint tap of one armored foot as he watched the screens of the bridge while the crew went about their duties. Time was wasting, this was a reality his origin knew all too well, this universe would need to regain some motivation were the danger to be annulled.

"Well," Kalli said, "We'll arrive in orbit of Lezaria within the hour. Now, Aviel, tell me again just what was so important about going to Lezaria?"

Aviel, standing near the back of the bridge, replied enigmatically, "We must wake the cherries."

Dolen fell completely still at the response, his attention riveting entirely on the winged woman. The Eldar were enigmatic enough to those who did not understand the length and breadth of their view, but this... he had no words to describe the unfathomable.

"Wake the cherries?" Dolen prompted with deliberate calm, restraining the growing impatience with this place's greater powers.

"The cherry trees of the forests of Thalarey," Aviel explained. "On the northern continent of Lezaria. They have been asleep for nigh a hundred thousand years."

Kalli just gave her a look that said, "What the fuck?"

Restraining the impulse to rub his temple, Dolen considered this implausible mission for a moment. "While conservation is a laudable goal," he offered with a faint expression of amusement for the Death Dancer's reaction, "I somehow doubt that is your intent. Considering what I have learned else, I might suspect something in this scheme to draw the attention of your Streamsinger."

"The cherry trees were the original inhabitants of Lezaria," Aviel said, "When the planet was called Silthor. However, in order to conceal themselves when stranded upon the planet during an evacuation after attack, they transformed themselves into trees, in hopes that they would be woken later. However, the one who was to have woken them when it was safe again has vanished..."

Dolen failed miserably at concealing an expression that mirrors that of Kalli May, at least for an instant before retaining his control. "Forgive me for being blunt," Dolen responded with deliberate precision and formality, "Yet I find myself unable to fathom a reasoning behind this or what you might seek to gain to stave off the current flood in it. Beings lost for so long to time and thought..."

He shook his head, having put forth the only plea for clarity which he would offer, quiet though it may be. To be so obscure in the face of the Chaos hordes not only bounded upon insanity but leapt plain across it. Kalli didn't even bother trying to understand or justify this damn fool scheme, going back to pretending to be engrossed in a console.

"They are the only surviving El'dari in the Elkandu Universe," Aviel said, ruffling her wings a bit. If there had been others, it was possible that the Elkandu would have run into them, but there were many corners of the universe that they had not touched.

"The Eldar fused themselves into trees a hundred thousand years ago," Dolen responded blankly, the mere thought of it and what had likely led to it paining his warrior soul. Whatever the reason... He sighed and nodded. "Very well, I can now understand the reasoning although questions as to their suitability remain yet in my mind. I shall aid as needed or required, as I have sworn."

The ship came out of hyperspace again over the planet Lezaria. There had, at least, been some amount of recovery during the last month since they were last here. The Eyes of Truth remained in orbit of the planet.

Having little else to do in the interim, Dolen waited, considering the likelihood of what such an awakening would mean. The thoughts were tangled, however, and it was with some relief that they arrived in near orbit and preparations for descent to the planet were set in motion.

Kalli said, "Okay, you guys can have fun talking to the trees, I'll just... stay here and monitor things. Yeah."

Aviel smirked and collected Tarna and headed for the transporter room, gesturing to Dolen to follow.

Dolen would consider passing some amusing comment back to Kalli regarding this were he not to consider it outside his nature to do so, and so he merely followed Aviel and Tarna as they made their way through the ship. His thoughts turned to more practical matters, though, such as precisely _how_ to awaken the Eldar sleeping below, and having an idea or two which might well suffice.

Aviel beamed the three of them down into the list of a forest surrounded by gigantic trees. There were burns and signs of battle around the area, but for the most part the trees looked intact. Bodies of winged monkey-like creatures dotted the forest floor.

Dolen walked silently away from their arrival point, reaching out to gently caress a deep burn scar in one of the trees, his expression softening as he hummed lightly to himself. He paid no attention to the world around him for long moments, gently smiling as bark near the edge of the scar writhed and then inched upward, engulfing the dark mark and covering it. It might look well, but it was moments more before his attention returned to the world, fresh life flowing in to fill the gap and given a chance to grow once more. Still lightly touching the tree, he walked around it, gazing into the depths of the forest.

"I can see why they chose this place," he murmured quietly, reverently, the beauty of the place even with its evidence of violation reaching to his soul.

Tarna said, "Wow... It's amazing anything's still here after everything that happened here..."

Descending from the branches high above, a handful of the monkey-like creatures with silver and gold feathered wings came to land before them. They looked over the trio cautiously, as if ascertaining if they meant harm or not.

"You might be surprised what may be done with that which grows," Dolen replied, still somewhat distantly, but his focus sharpened as the creatures descended from above. Fingertips brushed at the butt of his pistol in reflex, but he stilled himself as he studied the beings. "And what, I wonder, have we here?" he asked quietly, making no sudden moves to startle. "Guardians or merely those who blossomed within the Power of this place?"

"We are the Zephyli," said the largest of them. "We are the protectors of the trees. Tell me now, do you mean good or ill in this place?"

"You..." Dolen began to answer and then shook his head, disdaining the crudity of speech in this place. He closed his eyes, a faint smile creasing his lips for a moment as he could still _feel_ the forest around him, it was the same as many revered sites of his people and he opened himself up to it, listening with his spirit to the whisper of the trees and the deeper melody beneath it.

There was an unusual flavor to it, something ancient beyond his reckoning, something of great power, but it drew him nonetheless. His voice emerged at first in a tentative counterpoint to what he heard, though growing in certitude as the song within responds, melding and emerging as a pure, sweet melody of love and loss, life and death, growth and decay, ageless as the stars.

The Zephyli looked at him strangely for a long moment, and seemed to decide he wasn't a threat. "A great many of us gave our lives to protect this place from the dark forces that assaulted us," the leader said quietly. "But we could not allow the trees to be destroyed."

Dolen fell silent, utterly still for a long moment as he listened once more to the flow, then disentangled himself from it with some regret to turn his attention to the spokesman of the creatures.

"You have nothing to fear from me in this place," he replied softly, "Nor of our intent. I can feel them here even now, much like the repository of the soul at the heart of a Craftworld. They are lost to this world unless they are awakened, and we have come to free my kin from their self-imposed reverie."

The Zephyl shifted for a moment, rustling his feathers, and said, "I do not understand.."

Tarna peered around at the trees. Aviel stood back silently.

Aviel said quietly, "I believe they left some way to reverse it so that they could be awoken..."

"I do not fully understand either," Dolen replied softly, returning to the tree he had examined earlier and touching it lightly. "The Eldar... no, the El'dari of this place, for whatever reason, forsook this existence to dwell within the reverie, a place of great remembering where the souls of the Eldar are left in peace after death until times of great need."

Iyanden suffered that need far more than most, but he brushed the memory aside.

"How they achieved it is quite likely similar to the use of the soulstone that I carry." He looked aside to Aviel, "They most assuredly left a key, but if the one charged to keep it was lost? I have seen but have not the power of a Seer over the soul, I know of no way that it may be done."

Aviel said softly, "I was present when Silthor was attacked... Some escaped in ships, but the ships were hunted down and destroyed. The ones who remained here did this as a last resort. Only one was left awake to restore them, and I believe an ill fate befell him."

Dolen, as any other of Iyanden, had witnessed the ritual which had summoned the soul-separated to return to service countless times, and he could not fail to see the similarity here. They had bound themselves instead to living things, but then were the soulstones truly any different? Nearly all things which the Eldar made were born of growth. He considered the matter carefully, prying at memory from this way and that.

"The key," he murmured, leaving the two words standing in thoughtful silence for moments more before continuing, "Is that they are bound of their own will, of their own blood... to survive and live in another age when their enemies no longer sought them. They must be shown the door which leads once again to life, but only one with power may do so... while only one of my kind might know the way. Will you lend the power to this?" he asked, looking first one and then the other, unsure whether either possessed what was needed but knowing he would recognize the proper flow were it felt... the song's key was the key.

Tarna gave a nod and said, "I have the power over sleeping and dreaming, that might bring forth the consciousness. I will lend that to you..." Tarna linked her power with Dolen, allowing him access to her inborn Dream Magic.

Dolen closed his eyes, concentrating on the feel of what was being gifted to him, and gently smiled. Silently he knelt, paying no heed to discomfort as he touched the ground and allowed it to pass through him, keeping nothing, instead turning it to touch the faint strands of melody he had felt earlier.

There was great power here, the combined might of countless El'dari souls slumbering in their tie to the land. He twisted the magic flowing through him to turn and follow that path, curling about it, and then snared it roughly back to cause a discordant note in the song, sharp as brass against the willowy reeds which composed it. The smile deepened fractionally as the tune changed minutely.

No words were spoken, none were needed, he merely waited for the inevitable and, as he could sense them listening allowed himself to be drawn along that path as well. No more could he sense the forest or even his own heartbeat, nor did he care, all that mattered was that they knew him for what he was and that their slumber must end. Now!

Seemingly an eternity later, he sensed a crystal chime and relinquished his grasp on the song and instead focused entirely on the flow which had carried him with it to awaken moments later in the forest once more.

"And now, we see if they truly listened," he said simply.

There was a brilliant shimmer, a shifting in the air, as something changed and the spell was broken. The Zephyli looked around uneasily as they, too, began to feel it. There was a ripple in the air around the giant trees and a sound almost of bells. Then, in a final rush of light and energy, they appeared, laying scattered upon the ground and blinking slowly as if waking from a very long slumber.

They began to climb to their feet slowly, looking to one another in wonderment and confusion, then their attention turned toward the Zephyli and the others. They look at them warily, cautiously, and began to approach.

Dolen moved as though to rise, but his usual grace was constrained as a wave of fatigue unlike any he'd ever experienced crushes down on him and he sank back to kneeling.

"No Seer am I," he muttered beneath his breath, then turned his attention to the waking beings with genuine interest if no particular energy, waiting to see what their first actions might be upon waking to find not at all what they might expect.

They were confused, disoriented. They looked over themselves, as if startled to see hands and fingers rather than branches and leaves.

One of them came over and said haltingly, "What... what... happened?"

Dolen pushed himself determinedly upright, schooling his expression to neutrally polite. "You have remained bound in reverie far longer than you likely intended, through no action of your own." He gestured to Aviel. "She may have a greater understanding of what led to that occurrence, but it was I, with the aid of Tarna Tanson..." he offered a subtle gesture that his kin would appreciate as deep gratitude to the one mentioned. "Who woke you at long last."

Aviel explained, "The one who was to have awoken you disappeared and could be presumed dead. You have been asleep for one hundred thousand years."

The El'dari looked to one another in confusion over this revelation. One of them said, "The mutants.. the insane mutants from outer space who attacked us... are they gone now?"

"They are likely but dust in history," Dolen replied gently, "Though I might wish that the world you awaken to was truly without dangers of equal or greater import. The creations of Chaos stalk this universe, and this world has not been left unscarred." He motioned to a nearby proof of just such damage. "Given time it would not have been unlikely that you would have been beyond waking."

The Zephyli were speechless, looking in awe at the El'dari who have appeared around them. They didn't appear to be too certain just what they should make of this all. Of all the legends about their trees, this was clearly not one thought very likely.

One of the female El'dari said, "What about the others? The ones who escaped? What happened to them?"

"From all accounts," Dolen answered softly, "There are no other El'dari remaining in this place." He would not, now, speak of the tale Aviel had spun of all the others being tracked mercilessly and slaughtered wherever they had sought refuge. There would be a time for mourning later. "Others, such as myself, have traveled from far different lands, the El'dari still live.

The leader of the Zephyli had apparently managed to figure out what the hell was going on and said, "We Zephyli have protected you all these millennia while you slept against those who would have destroyed you for their own purposes. We will gladly continue to serve you, if you will have us." He bowed deeply toward them, his golden feathers shimmering faintly in the sunlight.

"A more honorable request," Dolen replied to the being, tilting his head in brief respect. "I could not expect from even the warriors of the Eldar." He returned his full attention to the scattered and disorganized El'dari and chuckled softly. "And until such a time that one may step forward to identify their command, I shall welcome you on their behalf. They will need friends in this strange world, more than they might know or believe."

"It will take time to learn what has transpired during the intervening time. Many thanks for your assistance. I am certain that we will meet again someday soon."

Dolen bowed formally, resorting to the reserve of his training to restrain the welter of emotion twisting within him. "You may be sure of it, as I am now sworn to aid this land in whatever manner I may."

He looked in silent question to Aviel, their purpose here complete... or was it? He could not be certain, though the warrior said yes his soul longed to remain and forsake that Path, if only for a time.

Aviel gave a nod of her head to the Zephyli and El'dari as they started to walk away, and returned the three of them to the ship once again. "Time enough for rebuilding," she said, looking to the floor for a moment before turning for the bridge again.

"Rebuilding indeed," Dolen murmured, memory colliding with memory and sparking another chain of reasoning which would need be perused in depth in the quiet hours. He stepped away from the transporting mechanism but halted and turned to study Tarna for a moment before speaking, "You have my gratitude, Tarna Tanson, for more than what passed below. Know that the Eldar never forget." He turned and began to follow Aviel.

Tarna gave him a bit of a bow of her head and headed off to find Theodore and keep him out of trouble for a little while or something.


	4. Random Meetings

Back on the bridge, the ship appeared to have been in contact with the Eyes of Truth in their absence, as the Eyes bridge with Scregor and others appeared on the viewscreen.

The contact on the bridge was apparent enough as he entered, and Dolen walked quietly aside that he might have an unobstructed view. He bumped into a red-shirted crewman in passing and offered a quiet apology, rather perplexed by the look of shock that garnered him. Shaking his head, he settles comfortably into an attentive stance and listened.

Kalli glanced over at them and said, "Ah, there they are." She indicated the viewscreen. "Scregor here says the cleanup is going well and Hawthorne wants to join us and fight Chaos..."

An elven woman with black hair and green eyes appeared on the bridge. She had a large runed sword strapped to her back.

Dolen studied the image thoughtfully, his response placid. "Any who seek to oppose the will of Chaos are welcome, so far as I am concerned. Better to die battling them than the slow death of the soul, is it not?"

Hawthorne looked at Dolen and said, "Were it not for the efforts of Sarhabinse, I would likely be fighting you in the name of the Blood God rather than talking with you right now. Allow me to introduce myself. I am Lariole Hawthorne Risselmilot Chelseer, Heir of the Children of the Dragon's Blood, Bearer of the Mystic Songblade of Old, Champion of the Songruler..."

Clasping his hands behind his back, Dolen listened to the introduction with interest, at least one aspect of that description tying this one in some way to Sedder's own bloodline. Interesting. "Then Sarhabinse is indeed due a measure of gratitude and praise."

"Indeed so," Hawthorne said. "And thusly I shall kick their asses thoroughly with the Zarnith." She patted the hilt of her sword.

Dolen chuckled lightly, thinking to himself that he simply must meet this one. "Then, providing your current command does not commit your duties elsewhere, and this command sees no issue in it, that opportunity shall surely be granted. I shall look forward to seeing just such."

"What command?" Hawthorne said, scratching her head a bit.

Kalli snickered a bit and said, "I'll see you later, Scregor. We'd best get on the move if there's nothing else urgent here. We've got a long journey ahead of us." She cuts off the comm and orders a course laid in for the Karzan Galaxy.

Dolen rolled his eyes skyward, humor obviously instilled in him somewhere along the way as a soldier. "And why does the concept of a command structure seem so foreign to every single being I encounter in this place. Is it any wonder it's gone wholly mad?" He sighed in exasperation.

Hawthorne said, "I tend to not particularly find much use for one, myself. I just do whatever I damn well please most of the time and wouldn't really care to order others around too awful much. Unless they're being idiots or something. But hey, I was once accidentally the leader of Tempest. Or was it Whitefire? I don't remember."

"A time and place for all things," Dolen replied, "Including knowing when to listen to an order and when to give one, but then I speak only from the minor and irrelevant viewpoint of having battled these same foes upon countless worlds over long years. I am surely errant in my ways and shall seek an answer as to how to amend them amidst my meditations."

Hawthorne apparently took this as a joke, finding it very humorous, and started laughing hysterically. "Oh, that's rich. So funny, implying that I know what I'm talking about. Hahaha..."

This was, perhaps, going to be a stranger development than he had originally believed, Dolen mused. He could nearly hear the Laughing God chortling mightily from his place among the shifting powers of the Warp, and might wish for a moment to properly 'thank' that deity for his sense of humor. "A strange, and unusual world indeed," was all that he said, content to allow the Laughing One his moment of hilarity.

Hawthorne recovered her composure and said, "Now. Yes. You do things your way. You do whatever the hell you think is best. Ain't nobody around here can tell you what to do or what not to do. I mean, they might give suggestions and all, and you might go off and do something stupid and get your ass kicked for it, but hey, you've always got the choice to do fucked up stuff and... maybe I should just go shut up now, eh?"

Any trace of humor vanished as Dolen responded with grim quiet, "And just such an approach is what has left worlds such as the one below defenseless in the face of the Foul Ones. Do you think that being a lone warrior wins such wars? You might find that assessment to be gravely in error upon the long road laid out before us. I have heard the Mon'Keigh speak of heroes, and there is one repeating trait to their tales. They are all dead."

"Hey, don't dis lone warriors, I single-handedly took down the faction of Whitefire, and I was unarmed at the time, too," Hawthorne said. "And then there was the time I blew up a whole army of orcs by myself... and then I remember the time I..."

"Then by all means face the hordes of Chaos alone," Dolen retorted, his scorn not borne of Eldar but that of the warrior. "Face these foes and slay their numbers, answer to the blood singing in your veins and the siren song of the Blood God. But do not expect that it shall end this war, nor shall it save the worlds which should be protected."

"Hey, don't underestimate what one Elkandu can do," Hawthorne said, grinning.

Then Sedder came out of the lift again.

Hawthorne spotted him and shouted, "Sedder! I'm going to kill you!" She proceeded to whip out her glowing runed sword.

Dolen began to answer the bravado, to speak of the heroes standing upon the bloodied bodies of those who would have aided them, but froze at her final words. Without hesitation he moved in bounding leaps, covering the intervening space and drew his own borrowed blade. He did not give it much hope against what was likely an artifact, but it might provide a moment's distraction.

"Not before me," he grated, the blade point dancing to face her, "Some of us know the meaning of duty."

Sedder blinked a bit at her in confusion.

Hawthorne grinned at him and said, "So, you defend that traitorous, backstabbing, treasonous, filthy piece of sniveling slime? Has he not yet shown you his true colors and betrayed you yet?"

Sindri arrived on another lift, and stood to the back of the room, just letting the scene unfold. He was average height, a bit gaunt in build but relatively handsome.

"Halt your tongue," Dolen replied with sudden calm, moving not at all from standing between them, "While this one has aided me, introduced me to the horrors of this world, and risked his own life and soul battling Chaos, I shall not stand for accusation. Leave it be, whatever the past, or there shall be blood spilled this day."

"My my," Sindri finally said, moving towards the group of soon-to-be combatants, "What a heated dispute!"

Sedder stepped up behind Dolen and said, "Hawthorne, put the bloody sword away already. Do you even remember how you finally defeated me in a duel, before the Time-Change?"

Hawthorne looked at him, lowering the sword a bit thoughtfully, scratching her head. "Oh yeah! You're a good guy now. Never mind, sorry." She glanced at Dolen and said, "But if you still wanna fight I'd hate to disappoint."

Dolen remained utterly motionless a moment more, then sheathed the sword in a fluid motion and turned to face Sedder without reply to the crazed woman.

"My apologies, Lord Sedder, merely acting as I might see duty commanded." Dolen wondered idly about the history involved, but then realized that he wouldn't truly care if he heard it, not when faced with an unknown threatening what he had sworn to act in defense of.

"An Eldar, serving Sedder. Curious. When did you come aboard, pray tell?" Sindri asked. His words seemed to be honeyed as he spoke.

Hawthorne said, "Well, somebody's gotta." She put the sword away and shrugged a bit.

Sedder smirked at Sindri and said, "You should come out of your quarters more often. We've been aboard for over a week."

"My apologies. I've been..." Sindri said with a smirk, "training."

"That information is surely available, should those commanding this ship deem to make it so," Dolen replied levelly, not wishing to delve into the matter any further at this moment. With deliberate calm, he retrieved the helm at his waist and seats it, the barrier comforting in a way as he stepped back out of Sedder's way.

Kalli said, "And we're off to the Karzan Galaxy again. I'm going to go eat a pizza or two." She left the bridge.

"Ah, the archetypical Eldar. Enigmatic even when the situation doesn't require it." Sindri chuckled.

Dolen was greatly tempted to follow her example, but remained neatly at attention as Sedder yet remained alongside the madwoman. He shifted his attention minutely to study the other new arrival, making no motion. "Then you know of the Eldar? And hardly seeming complimentary. One might wonder, if one was inclined to care."

Hawthorne meandered off as well to do something else, bored of the confrontation already and still not particularly wanting to hang around Sedder herself.

"Mmmm, I know of the Eldar," Sindri said. "I was once a devout follower of your ancient and sworn enemies." He seemed to relish it as he said it, just for a brief moment.

"Those enemies are legion, to be frank," Dolen replied with a sudden chill. "And quite often found laying bloodied and lifeless upon one world or another."

Sedder absently pretended to monitor the readouts of the secondary power couplings on the main reactor on deck 28.

Sindri chuckled. "Your most ancient and hated enemy? One of which your excesses and debaucherous lifestyles led to the birth of?"

Aviel approached slowly, stretching her wings a bit as she did so, seeming to be very amused by the conversation.

"Do not speak of that," Dolen replied once more, having the urge to redraw his weapons, "Do not taunt me, lest you seek what your kind has always found at Eldar hands."

Sindri laughed. "You are far, far away from your honor-bound and amenable kin. You needn't worry about tarnishing your race's pedantic reputation if you decide to relax a bit. Just relax." Sindri said, the words tinged with enticing tonal quality.

Aviel said, "To be strictly technical, that never happened in the Elkandu nor Karzan universes, either. Although all things considered, both are relatively far in the past, comparatively speaking."

"Honor and discipline are forever bound within us, and though it has been seen in this place that Chaos taint may indeed be cleansed it is not necessarily irrevocably done," Dolen hissed at the other.

"She has a point, you know," Sindri said. "Taint? I am not 'tainted' anymore. I _am_ cynical."

Dolen nodded acknowledgement to Aviel. "My apologies if I offend with allowing the offenses of another time and place to intrude upon your ship and your domain. I shall assuredly refrain and allow it to nettle me no further."

"But really now, calm yourself..." Sindri said. "I am not your enemy. I wish you no undue harm. I merely point out what is considered to be factual."

Aviel continued, "Different things occur in different times. I know not which was the greater folly, though, for the Elkandu nigh destroyed their own universe in the Planar Wars..."

That said, Dolen proceeded to ignore said instigator, having no inclination to dishonor his word by speaking of a past which was not theirs, regardless of provocation.

"Well anyway, Aviel, what has transpired since I was last above decks?" Sindri asked.

Aviel replied to Sindri, "Hawthorne had a run-in with Sarhabinse. Kalli and myself were cleansed. Dolen here randomly appeared on Wilderplane. Kalli failed to become a Jedi. Dolen killed Emily. Sedder merged with himself. The El'dari of Lezaria were awakened. People flew around a lot."

"Sarhabinse?" Sindri said. "And you are now free of Chaos?"

"Yes," Aviel said. "Sarhabinse is the Lezarian name for the ancient god of the elves." Sindri smiles. "Well, two more I don't have to worry about trying to drag me back into the fold."

Aviel chuckled softly.

"How did Kalli fail at becoming a Jedi?"

"She is quite excellent in combat, quite horrible at meditating."

Sindri was somewhat glad he missed that section of the trip.

Aviel went on, "She got bored and said, and I quote, 'Screw this, let's go do something else.'"

"Jedi... Jedi... I've heard that before," Sindri said. "It was in one of the books I read while I was back on Terra during that time-shift."

"Movies, more accurately," Aviel said.

"There were books too, you know." Sindri smirked. "Star something..."

"Star Wars."

He snaps his fingers. "That's it."

"Kalli, for some reason, had a burning desire to meet Luke Skywalker." Aviel seemed quite amused by that.

"The protagonist was a whiny brat to begin with, but seems to mature along the plot. Oh, she met him?" Sindri asked.

"Yes. He taught her. Or tried to, at least."

Sindri rolled his eyes. "I bet _that_ went well."

Dolen contemplated the setting in silence, testing the waters of his reflexes and their desire to act, and decided that while the situation here was calm and Sedder no longer endangered he could avail himself of a graceful exit.

"Lord Sedder," Dolen said quietly, "If you will excuse me."

Without further ado or explanation, Dolen walked to the lift and departed, suddenly eager to attend to a session of meditation or exercise. Anywhere but there.

Aviel's mouth gave a twitch of a grin as he departed.

Sindri stifled a chuckle. "Gods of the Warp, where did you find _him_?"

Sedder said without looking, "Somewhere on Wilderplane, like she said."

"And he's your personal manslav--er, servant, Sedder?" Sindri said incredulously. "I suppose 'retainer' would be the fitting, martial word for it."

"I have no idea why he insists on calling me that," Sedder said. "I'd really prefer if he stopped, personally, but I'm afraid I'd offend him or something..."

"Oh, pity's sake, please do," Sindri said.

"Only _mensch_ ever call me 'lord'," Sedder said with a sigh.

Sindri laughed. "Much that says about him..."

"I don't think he quite realizes just how demeaning it really is, for all the Elkandu's complete lack of any structure or chain of command," Sedder said.

"He's an Eldar, he's anal retentive about such things," Sindri said. "That's why I told him to relax... apparently, Speech magic isn't all that effective on them. I guess they _are_ psionics."

"Well, you're no Aitur, either, he could snap off a command and you'd do it even if you didn't want to. Most of 'em have to be a bit more subtle about it when dealing with anyone with any resistance." Sedder spat. "Fuck Aitur."

"Well, having the ability to sway the masses tends to give one some resistance to the power," Sindri said.

Sedder glanced out the viewscreen. "Another week and I don't even know why we're going there. Some lord am I."

"No one said you have to be any good at being a leader," Sindri said. "You just have to have enough might to make sure no one tries and take it from you."

"I don't even want it in the first place," Sedder insisted. "I only took over that planet because I was bored, I swear!"

"So let it fall into anarchy," Sindri said with a shrug. "Take what you can from it and leave it to it's own machinations."

"Meh. I don't need it, anyhow," Sedder said. "They get on well enough without me."

"See? There you go."

"Not that I really care," he shrugged. "Hmm, pizza sounds good..." Sedder meandered to the lift.

Aviel chuckled a bit as he went.

"So how does it feel to be freed from the Dark Gods?" Sindri asked with a raised eyebrow.

Aviel said, "Quiet and not especially comforting." At least she got more action this way. Kinda. Well, Asura was more relaxed around her at least.

"Really? I found it refreshing to hear my own thoughts after ten thousand years," Sindri said. "Then again, you were a pawn for but a hair's width of time."

"I did not find it refreshing to be told that I was still somehow doing exactly what Tzeentch intended me to do anyway."

"Tzeentch isn't guiding your fate. Fate is guiding your fate -- Tzeentch reads it like a book and narrates." Sindri paused. "Well, I suppose he can alter parts here and there..."

Aviel smirked faintly. "I know what mere mortals are capable of doing to the course of Time. I can do so myself. The Time-Change was conducted by Elkandu, not gods."

"True... but it would've been written into fate that a change was going to occur."

"There's no such thing as fate. The future is indeterminate. Not only can anything happen, anything _does_ happen, and the only difference is which path we happen to end up going down."

Sindri chuckles. "Believe what you will..."

"I'm a Chronomancer," Aviel said. "I know the shape of the Trayziak Tatalyar. I can see the future that has been tossed before me, for as little good as it will do me."

"I'll just stick to Catalysm, Speech and Motion, see what fate brings me."

"It's probably best," Aviel admitted. "I'll assure you that being able to see the future is does not bring any particular peace of mind."

"I should imagine not, especially if you are unable to change it."

"It is always possible to change things," Aviel said. "Now, changing them effectively or discovering that what you changed in fact made matters worse, is another subject entirely."

Sindri chuckled.

"But, thanks to the machinations of the Oracle, Mika, I can no longer hope to gauge the outcome of anything which I do. Therefore I shall ignore it and do whatever I think is best anyway," Aviel smirked. "Which is what most people do, I suppose."

"One can only hope." Sindri shrugged. "Well, I think I'll go, mmhmmm, do a bit more practicing," Sindri said with a little grin. He bowed and went to a lift.


	5. Preparing for a Journey

Recent events had stirred and struck loose a fascinating number of possibilities and potentials which Dolen had been content to meditate upon for a time following his encounter with Sindri and Hawthorne. The skeins were perhaps still tangled, but a Path could finally be perceived which might be followed were he to gain access to certain elements that were needful.

Those requirements in mind, he awaited the opportunity to find Sedder within his chosen quarters and set the dance into motion. Pressing the admission chime, he patiently waited for a reply.

The door slid open to allow him entry. There was heavy metal playing in Sedder's quarters, and the walls were decorated with twentieth century band posters. Sedder looked over at the door and turned the music down as he saw Dolen there, and waved him in. "Hey."

Dolen tactfully restrained himself from commenting upon the clangor which greeted him upon arrival, the noise reminding him of nothing so much as the cacophony favored by Chaos' noise marines. He walked within and offered a polite nod in greeting.

"My apologies if I have intruded upon anything of import, Sedder, but I find myself in need of the counsel and perhaps aid of a native to this place."

"Certainly, ask away," Sedder said, flicking a finger absently to switch the music over to play a bit of Nightwish instead. He was wearing a T-shirt and jeans again, but this T-shirt said, "Ice Mages Don't Worry About Their Ice Cream Melting."

Silently approving of the change in music, Dolen clasped his hands behind his back and took a moment to martial his thoughts.

"To speak plainly, as I feel some urgency regarding this," Dolen began. "I would first ask of you what information you may have gained from the rebels of the Karzan, and the other elements relate directly to this. I will need acquire a small craft which may traverse the Warp separating the places and the means to navigate there. It would, perhaps, be simpler to ask for simple transport, but I suspect that what I seek may require a great deal of travel without any forewarning or ability to return a pilot loaned."

Sedder looked at him oddly for a moment, and said, "Kalli, Theodore, and Jenna are aboard with their ships, as well as, apparently, a number of other rebels with a variety of craft. As for what I've learned? Not much, unfortunately."

Over the speakers, Tarja Turunen proceeded to sing "Elvenpath".

Sooner would he trust his soul to the Warp unprotected than set forth upon this journey with _that_ pilot, Dolen muttered inwardly, but the others might at least be of some aid in pursuing that angle and he made note of them for later reference.

"I shall pursue that avenue of inquiry with the craft owners, then," Dolen responded simply, then addressed the other matter, "As for the rebels, you spoke of a greater-than-anticipated windfall upon speaking with them before, including the location of another of their bases. I should seek to learn this, if naught else than as a stepping stone upon which my decided Path may begin and follow."

"Yes, right here, coordinates and the transponder code," Sedder said, pulling out a small data pad and tapping in a password to retrieve the indicated data.

Dolen nodded crisply, something about him denoting some measure of new-found purpose and determination. "That will do very well, and you have my thanks. There is no certainty that I shall find or be able to accomplish what I seek, but this shall assuredly aid me in that discovery."

Sedder copied over the data and hands him the pad and looked him over for a moment. "Good luck. Or as the Elkandu would say, May your magic never falter."

Dolen chuckled lightly and offered a bow, a hint of the sardonic to it in light of his recent studies of the Elkandu and this world.

"I shall not insult by offering similar from the vantage of a mere 'mibi', Sedder, but I will offer my own wish for your continued success and wellbeing. I shall hope, that when next we meet, I may repay some portion of the debt which honor demands I owe to you for your aid."

Holding the desperately needed information tightly, he once more bowed and departed to seek the next object of his search. Seeking out the nearest terminal, Dolen queried the current location of the Death Dancer Kalli May, then turned and strode purposefully onward. Kalli was currently in the training room on deck 12.

Dolen wended his way through the passages of the ship, growing more accustomed with time to the idea of this ship's design philosophy and requiring only one brief re-orientation before arriving at his destination. He enters the training room and halts his step lightly within, seeking out the known face.

Kalli was currently alone in the room, facing off against three hovering tactical drones and avoiding or blocking their incoming attacks. Dolen did not immediately draw attention to himself, curiosity as to the capabilities of the Death Dancers causing him to merely watch as she continued the exercise.

Kalli moved with super-human speed dodging the incoming blasts and blocking them with her lightsaber. Then in one swift movement, she tagged each of the three drones in rapid succession, causing them to ding as the weak hits struck them, and fell back.

He awaited a lull before announcing his presence with a subtle clearing of throat.

She turned and looked over at him, giving him a nod of greeting, and said, "Hey."

Dolen stepped forward at her greeting, inclining his head in return. "Greetings to you, Kalli May." He indicated the 'fallen' foes with a glance, then returned his attention to her. "A most impressive display of skill, one that I might be otherwise inclined to discuss at length if my purpose lent itself to the merely social. I would, however, seek a moment of your time, if it is convenient."

"Sure, fire away," Kalli said, switching the drones off with a remote so that they didn't fly up and start shooting at her at an annoying moment. Dolen took a moment to seal the door behind him against casual intrusion, then turned to her.

"I fear that what I am about to ask shall bring echoes of former experience to mind, but I find it needful to my purpose. I ask only that you consider my actions since boarding this ship and that I have acted with honor in regards to you before reacting to it." He waited a moment, searching her for reaction, then continued, "I would ask for a copy of the recording that you showed to me, as well as data pertinent to returning to that place. I do not ask that you forsake your own pursuit of investigation, but where I seek to go such information may indeed prove easier to follow in the long term. I swear, that should anything be found regarding it before you, then I will reveal it as is only your due for your own honorable actions in days gone by."

"Sure, no problem," Kalli said, pulling out a data pad and transferring the pertinent data over to him. "Anything else?"

The ease of acceptance came as somewhat of a surprise to Dolen, having considered alternate methods of persuasion upon the matter, but he did not question his fortune in the matter too far.

"Unless you might suggest a means of acquiring transport which would lead into Karzan territories, preferably at specific direction and subject to change of routes," he replied, "Then there is nothing else I might ask of you."

Kalli cocked her head at him and said, "Oh, what, a mysterious quest flying all over the place randomly? Come now, I'm the best damned pilot in the galaxy." She grinned at him.

"Not quite so randomly," Dolen replied with a faint smile. "Though I doubt greatly that my intent and what I seek may truly be of interest to you."

He pondered it for a moment nonetheless, then set aside the reservation.

"I have found myself wondering greatly upon the nature of disorder in all things that I have seen of late, and considering a Path by which some measure of that might be turned instead and energies focused upon Chaos. The Elkandu and their determined individuality are beyond my ability or scope of influence," he continued, "Yet there are other powers, some of which are only recently awakened, and it is those which I am intimately familiar with and have a reference point as to what they are indeed capable of should they rally. The El'dari must waken from their somnolence, and I must find a way to make it so."

Kalli didn't seem to be fully paying attention to what he was saying. "I've got the best ship ever, with all sorts of modifications by Asura. Thing's faster than anything you could hope for, and it's got a cloaking device and a particle cannon and it maneuvers like a dream..."

Dolen studied the woman quietly, silent laughter bubbling irresistibly within at her obvious obsession. "Then why do you not seek out a way to use this craft, a Path to set it upon?" he asked, "The very nature of your order would seem to be one of action, not the passive malaise which seems to affect the Elkandu to their very core. Yet still you remain here, aimless as I first was, and having only toys," he indicated the remotes with a disdainful motion, "to practice your skills and maintain the ingrained discipline."

"Hey, I'm not remaining anyplace, if I could make this thing go faster by getting out and pushing I would." Kalli chuckled. "I don't think I care too much to go flitting around between different universes for a while. It always only ever took me hours or even minutes to get from one system to another at home."

"Then do so and never look back, Kalli May," Dolen offered in sincere encouragement. "This place appears to be sadly lacking in numbers those with a will to stand against what horror is already within the gates, work against that entropy as I shall be seeking to do. I think you would likely find yourself uneasy within the circles I shall soon enter, else I would be glad of such company."

Kalli raised an eyebrow at him. "I've seen the Elkandu, and I'm not impressed. But what do you mean, uneasy?"

Dolen searched within for the explanation he sought, and attempted to shed light on it. "You have already served in years past the El'dari, before the events leading to today, but you have likely never truly seen or understood the subtleties of what it actually _means_ to be one. Just as your people are baffling to mine at times, the alien nature at our soul would likely cause such unease with extended exposure."

Kalli grunted softly. "So you're intending to find them?" She shifted a bit, sticking her hands in her pockets.

"Find and stir them to wakefulness," Dolen replied readily, "It is, perhaps, the only thing which I may assay to do to work against the machinations of Chaos. I merely hope that they are not so greatly lost in themselves that they refuse to stir to the call of battle." He shook his head, uncertainty flashing for a moment. "I do not know, only that I must try. I know what we are capable of, and it is something this world needs."

Kalli looked off for a moment, lost in thought and fingering something in her pocket. "I'll do whatever I can to help, regardless, however long it may take. Do you mind if Alpha comes along also?"

"It would not surprise me if this were to require years in the doing, Kalli May," Dolen warned, "And I can make no guarantees what success, if any, might be found or what dangers might be involved. I know simply that it is something which I must pursue, and would be remiss were I not to warn against following without full consideration."

Kalli did not appear to be particularly dissuaded. Oddly enough, trying to dissuade her only seemed to encourage her. Weird Death Dancers. Kalli gave a short nod and said, "When do we leave?"

Dolen gestured in silent acceptance and replied, "We may depart at such a time as you are prepared to do so. There is nothing which requires my leave-taking aboard this ship, and all that I need is already with me, including the first step which I intend to take on the Path."

"I'll go find Alpha and see what he thinks, then," Kalli said, giving a bit of a wave as she headed for the door.

"Then you need but call," Dolen replied in parting, falling into silent musing upon the recent development and its potential effects regarding what he intended.

* * *

Kalli came over to Alpha's quarters and rang the doorbell.

Alpha was sitting in meditation, but came out when the door beeped. "Come."

Kalli came inside and smiled at him. "Hey. What're you up to?"

Alpha stood up stiffly. Apparently he'd been sitting that way for a while. "Soul-searching is the best word, I guess. Trying to look inside myself... Not that I have any idea whether I'm doing it right. Anyway... what's up?"

"Oh, I was just wondering if you wanted to go along on a mysterious quest for an indefinite period of time that probably in some way involves the El'dari and a lot of flying around from one place to another."

"Our newcomer, I take it?"

Kalli gave a nod. "Yeah."

Alpha made a face. "I'm not really sure what to make of him, not that I trust anyone really..." Alpha mused for a moment. "Of course, that's my fault; I didn't really take the time to figure him out yet. I take it you don't have an issue, though, or you wouldn't have agreed."

"And this time with any luck we _won't_ get stuck in an alternate version of the Warhammer universe, too."

Alpha smirked. "Shazmar save us from alternate universes. Wait... Scratch that. I'm not sure I want Shazmar involved."

Kalli snickered.

"So, what's the lowdown?" Alpha asked. "Or was he as vague as you were just now?"

"I think he wants to poke them until they decide to do something," Kalli replied. "Like fight Chaos."

"Won't argue with that outcome..."

"But I wasn't about to run off into the wild black yonder without giving you a chance to come along or not if you want." She grinned at him.

Alpha smiled. "Thanks for thinking of me... I might as well."

She went and kissed him. "Best get packed I suppose."

"Hey, I'm a Voider. I can just make my own clothing." Alpha winked, but packed anyway.

She went off to grab anything that might be laying around that belonged to her that she hadn't bothered putting in her bag of holding. Which probably contained a small arsenal and enough pizza to feed an army by now.

Kalli said, "This should be fun. Finally a chance to get off this damned ship and do something for a little while, meet people, avoid getting killed, et cetera!"

"True." Alpha was thinking the same thing, even though he didn't quite want to say it. He seemed a little more sober since the events in the Star Wars universe.

"And it probably won't involve people trying to make me meditate although they'll probably ramble about the dangers of the dark side too..."

Alpha snickered.


	6. Settling in for a Journey

Kalli headed off to collect Dolen and go to the docking bay for the trip. Kalli's perfectly happy to set off right away. Not that the Darknova could get there all that amazingly faster than the Shadow of Doubt, considering the distances involved, she was actually pretty happy to be back to it again.

It was refreshing to once again have a goal, Dolen mused as the smaller craft detached and sped away from the Shadow of Doubt, and best of all there was no sign of a being onboard that he would need spend hours either watching over or fleeing from in the name of sanity. There had not even been a need to return to his quarters, his answer to his readiness not overstated in the least, armor and weapons, what else might he need?

"What length of time might we expect for this destination?" he asked Kalli May, not really concerned about it but making an attempt to be communicative. Time enough later for hardships which might require familiarity.

Kalli checked the navigational computer and said, "Hmm. Should be two days before we reach the coordinates you put in." She sat back in the chair, making herself comfortable, and put on some Loreena McKennitt music.

Dolen nodded absently and settled lightly into another seat, touching nothing but studying the controls and instruments closely. There were differences between this craft and a Phoenix, to be sure, but the greater part of it was readily understandable to him. He set aside his perusal for the moment and relaxed into the chair as much as his armor allows.

"Very good," he replied simply. He trailed off, uncertain as to how to breach what he was thinking, but finally continued, "At any rate, while we are sharing this limited space for a time, perhaps tis best served answering what questions we might have of the other." He smiled faintly and nodded to her. "I am sure you have far more regarding this endeavor and the nature of my kind than I have in reverse. What would you know of me?"

Kalli regarded him for a moment and said, "Do you like pizza?" She grinned at him a bit.

Dolen raised a brow in perplexity, "Pizza?"

"Yeah." She reached over and pokes at the replicator and out popped a pizza with pepperoni and pineapple. "Pizza." She offered him a slice, taking one herself to munch on.

Dolen accepted the object quizzically, the smell vaguely reminiscent of food, specifically food poorly prepared or gone bad. "You... eat this?" he asked, clearly doubtful of the idea's sanity.

"Mmhmmm," she said, over a mouthful of pizza. "It's delicious."

Making a gesture of resignation, he did sample the concoction, the tastes of the varied materials seeming highly odd in his experience of far different foods. "It's... interesting," he replied with blank politeness.

Alpha wandered up from the back of the ship. "It's delicious. Well... in moderation."

Kalli chuckled softly. "Yeah, I think I have a small arsenal of weapons in my pocket and around two hundred pizzas."

Dolen shrugged without conviction but did finish the slice in short order, without further fuss, quite practical. "If it suffices to sustain, then it is acceptable at the least."

"Yeah, back before replicators, oh, a few months ago or so, we had to make due with space rations," Kalli said. "Ugh! Boring white blocks of _something_ that just taste like crap. I don't even know what they're made out of, and I really don't want to know most likely, but one little bit will keep you going all day."

Dolen chuckled lightly. "Oh yes, I would recognize that type of ration anywhere, it would seem a standard torment inflicted on soldiers universally. Craftworld fare is considerably different, thankfully."

"Earth Mages. Unlimited supply of bread." Alpha smirked and settled into a random chair.

"Yeah, was always thankful to get back to a base somewhere and have something resembling real food, but they rarely actually had pizza..." Kalli said. "Apparently it's difficult to get pineapples to grow inside an asteroid."

Dolen looked at the faint stain of grease on his gauntlets, then back at them. "And such things are not only allowable but wildly popular? How odd."

"Pizza's fairly popular planetside, yeah," Kalli said. "There's huge pizza chains all over the core Imperial worlds."

"An advantage, one supposes, of not leading a militaristic life. Though one does wonder how they fare in wartime." Dolen mused, "Likely not well."

"Yeah... you Canadian-borns should thank us Americans for that fad." Alpha winked at Kalli.

Kalli smirked.

Americans? Canadian-born? Further references that meant nothing to Dolen, other than as likely points of origin, nor did it truly matter. He fell silent, the matter of food forgotten as he listened to the music she had chosen.

Kalli looked at him oddly and said, "But if there's anything else you'd prefer to munch on, the replicator can make all sorts of different things if you give it a decent description. Although at the moment I think it's mainly programmed for pizza..."

"No, that's quite alright," Dolen replied quietly, "It matters little what it may be, so long as it sustains. I might consider differently in future days, but for now..." He shrugged.

Kalli chuckled softly and said, "Ah, don't worry about it. I'm sure Asura did a great job on that replicator for having to use it for extended periods of time."

Dolen tilts his head in query, clasping his hands, "Asura?"

"Yeah, Asura," Kalli said. "He's the best damned mechanic I know. He could turn a toaster into a death ray if he had a mind to."

Alpha snickered. "Anyway... Dolen. What exactly is our goal? Kalli wasn't very specific when she invited me."

"As for what I seek to do," Dolen said, "I shall be as simple in reply as I may. The El'dari of this place seem, to all intents and purposes, to be scattered to the winds or withdrawn, without purpose, I am seeking to draw them out."

"So... a search and rescue mission, so to speak?" Alpha said. "Minus the rescue, of course..."

"In part," Dolen replied, "Though in larger part it shall be a case of instilling in them the motivation that seems to be lacking entire in those I have so far encountered. With Chaos running loose, they may well yet prove a vital force to contend against them."

Alpha nodded.

"Whence I came, the Eldar were indeed split into separate factions, yet each served the same purpose when all was said and done. Reserved? Yes. Separate? Yes. Unconcerned or inactive? Never."

"Well, I don't know what they're doing, but I've seen a good number of them all over the place, on the Imperial worlds, on the rebel bases..." Kalli said.

"Therein lies the puzzle." Dolen nodded in agreement. "It is likely that some faction of them is indeed assessing what they might do, but what of the rest? It is quite easy for my kind to withdraw into ourselves and shut out the world, I need find the state of affairs here."

"Well, if nothing else, I know where all the rebel bases are, even the ones that aren't listed, if that becomes necessary as well," Kalli said.

"Whatever information may be gained should be, as there may be no foretelling what may be the critical piece missing in the mosaic," Dolen said. "Somewhere, the El'dari wait in numbers which dominated the Karzan, licking their wounds perhaps."

"I know at least some of them were with the Imperial fleet when it went to Lezaria to attack Chaos..." Kalli said quietly.

Dolen nodded. "It would not surprise me to find some of their number leaping immediately to battle that ancient foe. That it was merely 'some of them' is what is at issue, in my mind. Speed, precision, and coordination has always been the trademark which caused fear in the hearts of our enemies. Where is that warrior spirit now?"

Kalli murmured, "Over half of that fleet was destroyed or worse in that battle. The other half escaped into hyperspace."

She was clearly uncomfortable talking about it. Alpha put a hand on her shoulder reassuringly.

"Such encounters are not uncommon, unfortunately," Dolen replied quietly. "Even at the best of times, when all is prepared, Chaos strikes and it is aptly named."

"Actually... the Karzans were winning," Kalli said. "Up until the Emperor was killed."

Dolen offered an enigmatic smile and gestured to her. "And so you yourself make my point, Kalli May. Never underestimate the reach and power of Chaos, nor its treachery. From a personal standpoint you may now clearly understand how there can be no compromise."

Kalli nodded distantly, giving a soft sigh. "Yeah..."

"Do not suffer yourself to blame," Dolen replied gently, "You acted with what you thought to be a clear heart and conscience, there is nothing more which you may have done."

"I was obsessed with revenge," Kalli said. "Even when doing otherwise or waiting until a better moment would have been more appropriate. And I nearly died for it too, if it weren't for the Word Bearers..." she trailed off.

"That's all anyone can do, really..." Alpha said. "And no matter the outcome, you can't doubt your actions."

"Doubt leads to inaction or hesitation, Kalli May," Dolen replied, then asked, "What would your training and discipline as a Death Dancer say to such qualities?"

Kalli shook her head. "To do what you think is right, no matter the consequences." She sighed. "Well, the Emperor is dead. But I also know that Abaddon the Despoiler is dead as well."

"Both good things," Alpha said.

"The Despoiler is no more?" Dolen asked with faint enthusiasm. "That at least is a point in favor of all that has transpired. That one has been a greater thorn than most throughout time."

"They've got another guy in charge now... name of Dralus... creepy fellow," Kalli said.

"As for the Emperor..." Dolen added with a shrug. "I have already told you my supposition regarding that one and what truly held his strings. I think the opponents of Chaos shall not mourn him greatly, when all is done. Considerably more than supposition, in truth," Dolen murmured, nearly to himself.

Kalli gave a nod. "I certainly won't. But Talia... Anderos won't be happy when he finds out what happened to her."

Alpha stayed silent. He didn't really have much to add here.

"None shall be truly happy when this is done," Dolen responded. "It is the nature of conflict upon the scale which will be seen before this is done. Anderos will bear no greater sorrow than any of the rest."

"And that's my fault as well," Kalli muttered.

"Nonsense," Dolen retorted. "Did you awaken the Chaos Gods? No? Then your part is but another moment in the scheme of things." His people knew that guilt all too well, having done precisely that.

"I don't know why the galaxy is even still here... I remember it being destroyed," Kalli said slowly. "When I killed the Emperor for the second time, there was some sort of... psychic shockwave, from millions of linked telepaths all dying simultaneously... and..." She sighed, rubbing her head.

"I have heard the tale from one of Chaos' own." Dolen nodded grimly. "One who claimed, and there was reason to believe it, that she was part of that remaking. But remember one thing in all of this... does a tool receive credit or blame for an artisan's work? No? Then know that you were a tool of Chaos at that time and nothing more. Remember who the true evil is and do not allow any perceived guilt to remain. Were it not you, it would have been another."

"Somehow I doubt any other could have accomplished what I did," Kalli muttered. "Nobody but me ever managed to kill the Emperor. And I killed him four times, in four different ways..."

Dolen chuckled, his reply sardonic, "Only you may have done it, Kalli May? Chaos already had its eye upon the Elkandu, and if one of them had served their purpose just as well then so it would have been. Put nothing beyond the appetites of those ones."

"We hadn't even had any contact with the Elkandu back then. Five hundred years," Kalli murmured. "And we thought he was dead the _first_ time..."

Dolen shook his head and sighed. "Time means nothing when speaking of Chaos, even less than to the Eldar. Were they to need another tool, it would have been created or found, as was done when they sought to place another upon that throne."

"I killed him by poison, by violence, by magic, and by spam."

"And you could kill him again and it would simply be removing a discarded minion of Chaos," Dolen replied, "In the end, they discard tools at a whim, or break them, and create others all to perpetuate their mad craft."

Kalli shuddered a bit, and said, "They seemed so convincing at first... they made it sound like they were... I don't know... I can only think that that Word Bearer somehow tricked me..."

"Oh that is always the way of it," Dolen agreed. "Most likely those who end serving do not even begin to realize they do so until far too late. When an entire race can degenerate to that point and awaken them, what surprise that a single soul be tempted and consumed?"

"I still can't believe I ever did that," Kalli said. "When it goes so much against everything I've ever believed in... but I didn't really see the truth until it was too late..."

"That is why you must always question," Dolen replied. "A paradox for a soldier, perhaps, in that they must submit to the rule of command, but nonetheless important in determining your own motivation and reasoning behind your actions. To kill is your duty, to enjoy it is the way of Chaos."

Kalli sighed and gave a nod. "Sometimes I wish everything could go back to the way it was before this all started... before the rebellion, before the Usurper, before Alisa's assassination... wishful thinking, I suppose... but I know it's never going to happen. Everything always changes..."

"Change is life," Dolen replied quietly. "To look upon the past and mourn the lost is natural, but in order to live you must grow beyond that and change. It is not always pleasant, and on the larger scale is often not, but it is inevitable that it be so until death."

"Meh. Dancing on the Edge of Death," Kalli commented. She replicated a Genericola and drank. "You wanna watch a movie?"

Dolen chuckled lightly at the change of topic, and was largely content to allow it to pass that she might consider what went before. "There are two days yet till our first stop, we may do whatever you wish," he replied, "Though I would ask one question of you first."

"Sure, fire away," Kalli said.

Dolen retrieved the copy of the recording and held it out before him. "When we spoke of this, it seemed you would surely seek out the nature of the mystery for your own sake despite ill treatment at the hand of the El'dari, and yet here you sit upon another mission entire which may see their return in force. Why?"

"I realized that I might have been wrong about that and that Chaos wasn't exactly the most reliable source for such opinions."

Dolen nodded thoughtfully, stowing the recording safely once more in a beltcase. "I see. Well then I shall certainly endeavor to show that not all of my kind are without honor, even to 'lesser beings'." He snorted lightly at the last.

Kalli chuckled softly. "So, let's see, what you want to watch? Star Wars? Lord of the Rings? Hmmm..."

"The choice is yours, Kalli May," Dolen replied with a quietly echoed chuckle. "I freely admit that not one part of that made the least sense to me."

"Ah, let's see LotR then." She actually said 'low-ter'. "I'm a bit burnt out on Star Wars lately."

"Eh, please, if this is indeed a form of entertainment than I would surely prefer to avoid a tale which echoes a galaxy at war," Dolen replied with painful cluelessness. "This lowter should be sufficient."

Kalli flipped off the music and proceeded to put on the Fourth Millennium Digitally Remastered Extended Version of the Lord of the Rings. She figured he'd like it because it had pointy-ears in it... Plus she used the main viewscreen for it since it wasn't like staring at hyperspace was all that useful.

The film would indeed be entertaining, though comparisons to a barbarous lost world would inevitably be drawn, the idea of 'fantasy' being quite alien. Dolen, overall, was quite bemused. And idly wondered where the 'Lowter' came into play.

Kalli finished up her last bowl of replicated popcorn and Genericola. Having been offered both, Dolen must need wonder when the woman ever ate real food. Very strange.

"So," she said finally. "What did you think?"

"It was..." Dolen began, then faltered with a puzzled expression. "Strange. I would have expected the elves to speak some more common tongue or one familiar to me, for instance. And what are these hobbits? I have neither seen or heard of them before."

"Short fellows with furry feet, apparently," Kalli replied. "Maybe some sort of mutant. I don't know."

Dolen shook his head, "Well that they apparently know nothing of Chaos, such mutants would be quickly destroyed. Though I suppose this Sauron would be a valid representation of that sort."

"The hobbits didn't exist in the Silmarillion, at any rate. They just kind of randomly appeared at some point during the Second and Third Ages or so..."

"The Silmarillion?" Dolen asked, then shook his head and raised a hand to stave off an explanation, "No, I have need enough to learn the recent history of these new lands, I should seek no further into antiquity. Although..." Dolen smiled with faint reminiscence of certain scenes. "I remember from some of the few remnants of records before the Fall forests such as those of these elves, I would have truly enjoyed seeing them."

"Yeah... The Silmarillion's about the creation of Arda and the First Age..." Kalli said. "They made that into movies, too. It was great."

"When, then, were these recordings taken?" Dolen asked, "Was it something one of the Elkandu traveled back to see and released for posterity, or something else entire?"

Kalli blinked at him for a moment. "Oh... They're movies. The scenes were recreated by actors dressed up in costumes and makeup..."

Dolen looked blankly at the screen for a moment, then shook his head with a rueful chuckle. "I apologize, the concept was not familiar to me. Essentially a play, then, I see." He sighed wearily and rubbed at the bridge of his nose. "So very many strange things."

"Heh, no worries," Kalli said, stretching a bit. "I think I shall pass on visiting Middle-Earth anytime in the near future, however."

Dolen just looked at her for a moment, highly confused. "Did you not say it was merely actors? How, then, would you visit their Middle-Earth?"

"I visited Star Wars as well," Kalli said. "They were, apparently, depicting something that happened somewhere, at some point, more or less. Every version has their own idea on what happened. It would be interesting to go and see what _really_ happened. Or so I thought at any rate."

"That," Dolen conceded, "Is possibly the strangest and most disturbing thing I have yet heard in this place. People, unknowing, recreating entire the existence of another place through their mediums of entertainment? I think," Dolen added after a moment, "That I shall forego thinking overly much upon it, there being a great deal else to meditate regarding." Sanity, and the retaining thereof, being high on the list of priority.

"Well, what you wanna do now?"

"In truth," Dolen replied, "Tis much the same upon any journey and mission, there is a goal to be had and many hours to be worn away. In the past, I have largely spent such times in meditation or practice, both focusing the edge of discipline."

"I've got games and simulators on this thing, too," Kalli said, poking absently at a readout.

"What sort of simulators?" Dolen asked with more than a hint of interest. "Anything which might approximate the handling capabilities of this craft or ones similar to it?" The Eldar concept of 'fun' was, to be blunt, lacking much in its splendor.

"Certainly," Kalli said, tapping at it to bring up a view of space with the words 'Darknova Flight Simulator Initiated -- Secondary Controls Disabled' on the screen.

"I am proficient in a number of craft, as might be expected of any looking further along their Path," Dolen explained, "Yet I have yet to gain access to an equivalent version of El'dari craft. It was one of my intents to obtain further familiarity with such as these before you volunteered your own skills to the task."

"Sure, go ahead and try it out if you want. The joysticks there control speed and trajectory, and the buttons fire the weapons."

Dolen did so, studying the display's rendition of the craft's simulated reactions. "What class of weaponry does such a craft possess?"

Kalli tapped the console and brings up a simulations of a sun and some planets to give a better frame of reference. She said, "There's two lasers mounted on the wings and a particle cannon on the underside of the ship. The offensive power of the Darknova is lower than that of the Ultranova, but it's faster, more maneuverable and capable of cloaking."

"Mm," Dolen replied absently, testing out the maneuverability she'd praised it for and finding little to complain of in it. "I believe I might begin to enjoy ships such as this."

Kalli grinned. "And this, in particular, is a modified Darknova X-32. Asura's made plenty of little tweaks here and there to increase its efficiency and effectivity."

"Perhaps not so sleek and elegant as a Phoenix," Dolen murmured, "Yet it handles well, and the power readings associated with the weaponry available is quite within satisfactory range. Were I of more piratical nature I might consider stealing just such a craft."

Kalli chuckled softly. "The Darknova-class fighter was designed by the Karzan Rebellion. It uses a luminite-based engine core. The Empire doesn't have access to significant stores enough of luminite to rely on Nova-type ships. And they never had pilots skilled enough to make good use of them anyway."

Dolen chuckled. "Then more the fools, they, such small craft are often the bane of enemy shipping and transport, and have been used to devastating effect. The Empire of Man knew well to fear the appearance of a squad of such."

"Primo pilots fly poorly and die fast," Kalli said. "There's always been a huge niche for recovery of scrap metal for all the ships they lose every day... Luminite's far too valuable to be wasted on them. And, yes, I've destroyed battleships and cruisers single-handedly before with one of these."

"Those who do not learn and love to move quickly, evading the blow of their enemy rather than standing and absorbing damage, do not do well with such ships. Such tactics are the mainstay and a joy to me."

Kalli grinned broadly. "Indeed. That's why I picked the Darknova. The Ultranova has no subtlety at all. Though it's pretty good at blowing things up."

"There is a time and place for that sort of power, I suppose, but where is the joy in it? What glory in screaming from the sky and raining destruction upon the unsuspecting and then laughing as you dodge their fire?" Dolen chuckled and glanced aside to her. "You must excuse me, the tactics of the Eldar are ever light of feet rather than hard of head."

Kalli gave a nod. "Likewise. Death Dancer tactics aren't all that different, I don't think. We don't call it 'dancing' for no reason."

"You would most likely find kindred spirits amongst those following the Path of the Howling Banshees," Dolen mused, a good part still focused on the simulation. "Forever moving and yet managing to remain within power-glaive striking range of their foes. They are fascinating to observe in action."

Kalli chuckled. "Give me a thousand Death Dancers and I bet we could take out the entire Chaos fleet right there."

"Perhaps, but where would one gather such an army? If you manage to deduce a means of doing so, then I would greatly appreciate hearing of it as I have found myself wishing for one entirely too often recently." Dolen actually joked, his shifted attention reducing some measure of natural barriers.

"There's some on the Shadow of Doubt," Kalli said. "But I don't think even a hundred of them. Now, hmm. The better question is, where to find Death Dancers who haven't gone over to Chaos?" Kalli sighed. "I know there are some..."

Upon hearing the sigh, Dolen reached to disable the simulator and swiveled the seat to face her with a quiet smile. "Do not despair, Kalli May, as I have not. You are in your element, you have your talents and abilities, not to forget a will with which to use them. Even should we all fall before the forces of Chaos, in holding true to that spirit of self have we already won."

Kalli grinned faintly, and said, "Well, failing all else, I know a few places in which to look."

"And there you have the first step of a path to follow," Dolen replied evenly, the smile shifting to a quirked grin. "Who would believe that anyone would take such a wild gamble upon slender odds, hmm? Perhaps one who went and talked to cherry trees." He chuckled and shook his head.


	7. Enigmatic Meeting

After two days, the ship came out of hyperspace in a remote system. There was a pale red star and a large nebula near the edge of the system. There didn't appear to be any planets in the vicinity, but there were plenty of asteroids of varying sizes.

"Wow," Alpha said. "Looks like Alderaan."

Kalli smirked. "Let's check the coordinates... hmm.... great, the base we're looking for is supposed to be in the middle of that cloud."

Dolen examined the instrument reports for the system, and shook his head. "If they are so predictable in all things, to occupy such systems, their days may well be limited as rebellious souls."

"Well, everywhere people would _want_ to live is already controlled by the Empire," Kalli pointed out.

Alpha nodded in agreement silently.

Kalli turned the ship and headed toward the nebula. "'Cept for a handful of systems the rebels stubbornly kept out of their hands. It's been a long, hard fight to keep control of the Rath system..."

"Mm," Dolen replied skeptically, that the forces of Chaos already operated in such places was evidence enough that those seeking rebellion might do so as well.

"Ugh, the nebula's interfering with sensors," Kalli muttered, watching the readouts fizzle and start to fail as they entered the cloud.

"Yeah," Alpha said. "That's another reason why nebulae are good places to hide. Natural defenses."

Kalli proceeded to dodge the asteroids that were floating about this part of space, but it became increasingly difficult with no sensors and little visibility.

"For so long as their numbers remain pure of infiltrators, true enough," Dolen agreed with the assessment.

The viewscreen became increasingly clouded. Kalli started dodging asteroids that they couldn't even see.

"One must wonder about the survival ratio of those seeking to return to this place," Dolen said with grim humor, watching as one near collision after another was avoided by the smallest breadth.

"I can't see how anyone who isn't psychic could even fly through this damned place," Kalli muttered, dodging another asteroid.

"The greatest number likely are, if the El'dari are involved," Dolen replied, "And it would certainly add to the defensive strength facing those of the Karzan not so imbued."

"Put in that transponder code so we can get our bearings," Kalli said. She'd do it herself but she was a bit occupied at the moment.

Dolen nodded in silent reply, seeing nothing in their best interest in distracting her, and complies. "Transponder active."

"Okay, there it is," Kalli murmured, working their way down in that direction.

"Awaiting contact," Dolen replied serenely, certain that this place would be no different than the last in identifying them quickly enough, most likely through remote detection platforms.

Kalli headed toward the blinking transponder signal, helpfully displayed in blue on the viewscreen by the ship's computer.

Talied answers the request for identification and purpose from the base with bland truthfulness, stating their origin and reference point as the last base he had visited with Sedder, including identifying its locale. That seemed to ease their natural suspicion and they were told to proceed as before, without deviation or be destroyed.

"How typical," he murmured with sardonic amusement.

The distance listed for the signal decreased little by little as Kalli dodged asteroids. Then they came to a shield designed to keep out the asteroids and such, and pass through. The nebula was considerably less prevalent within, and a huge construction could be seen.

Kalli stared at it as they came out of the field and breathed, "Hol-ee shit..."

Alpha seemed interested. "What is it?"

Dolen compared the visual and instrument input, the structure's purpose not immediately clear although vaguely reminiscent of something not leaping clearly to mind. "From your exclamation, I would presume this is new?"

It was obviously not a little base shoved in an asteroid, as she'd probably expected.

"Then let us proceed, this may prove of interest," Dolen replied, "If naught else, perhaps those in this place are developing a design idea similar to the scale of a Craftworld."

Alpha's question had gone unanswered. "I'm serious... what is it? Is it a ship? A stationary battle station?"

Kalli proceeded to bring them in to dock at the specified location. Kalli said, "I have no idea."

Dolen chuckled lightly, not particularly perturbed by the development, and rose languidly as the ship settled to rest. "Shall we go and find what, precisely, our hosts have been about?"

Kalli docked the ship and proceeded to pop the hatch and climb out. Alpha followed. Leaving the larger and unwieldy rifle aboard, content for the presence of sidearm and blade for the moment, Dolen followed the Death Dancer from the smaller craft into the cavernous landing bay.

"Let us examine this place closer, until such time as a security entity challenges," Dolen said.

Kalli said, "Yeah..." She was already fairly well staring at everything.

Alpha didn't seem in as much awe as Kalli, but he did admire the place with interest. "I'm definitely impressed... for the scale if not the function... They seem like they're pretty well-established here."

Primarily El'dari, but they'd clearly picked up a few things from the rebels. There were signs of luminite use. Dolen made note of the differences in architecture more readily than the familiar, the scope not particularly stunning but the new elements proving interesting.

"One might believe them to indeed be creating a Craftworld-scale craft," Dolen muttered thoughtfully, "Though incorporating the luminite technology is certainly new. Well within normal crystalline tolerances for power, I'd suspect."

"One has to wonder just where they got enough luminite to power something of this size, though," Kalli mused. "The Rath system is the largest concentration of it that I know of, but there's a couple other places..."

"They're El'dari. I'm sure they planned for it," Alpha said. "They may have easily planned this out for hundreds of years."

"I wouldn't doubt it," Kalli said.

"As they were the overseers of the Empire for long years, it would indeed surprise me were such stores not set aside for future use. Or..." Dolen paused thoughtfully, "Finding a means to manufacture such would not be beyond belief, either."

"The Empire never really had much access to it after the rebellion began, but before then? It's possible," Kalli said.

Dolen chuckled quietly, following a curve of wall that bore unfamiliar elements within it to capture the interest of the mind's eye. "Ever secretive and aloof, are those of my blood, as you have seen Kalli May. What may have been accepted as reality may well have been myth."

Kalli chuckled. "I can believe it."

"This place," Dolen said, his demeanor becoming more energetic, "May well prove of great interest, and I should greatly doubt that any who have gained entrance may have the taint of Chaos upon them to spy upon the works here. Let us go and seek further." He picked an egress point at random and headed for it.

Kalli meandered on after him, staring at everything along the way.

"I might recommend remaining nearby, Kalli May and Alpha," Dolen said quietly, "I may indeed be a stranger to them, but I suspect that they might well be less inclined toward hostility toward one of apparent kinship."

Kalli shrugged a bit, "Wasn't planning on wandering off anywhere. I don't doubt that some of them recognize me at any rate..."

Alpha had never been here before, so it seemed unlikely he'd run off to see a long-forgotten friend.

"And perhaps not the fondest recollection," Dolen replied with gallows humor, "Our first goal shall be to find a node, a construct quite similar to your own terminals in purpose and design. There may we begin to find something more of this place."

"Lead on, then," Kalli said.

"Such industry," Dolen mused as he led them with seeming purpose through one passage after another. "And yet no sign of action or hint of their movements amongst the stars. Interesting." Their path opened shortly into another open area, with odd structures dotting the organic landscape and his step slowed. "Oh my."

Kalli peered around at the immediate vicinity with interest. "What is it?"

Dolen shook his head silently in reply and looked around, quick steps bringing him within reach of just what he had sought in this direction anyway. Crystalline controls shifted the holographic display that appeared and he sifted through the basic structure with a growing sense of joy.

"This is a manufactory, one of many such aboard this... Craftworld." He did not step away from the display as an armed El'dari approaches with obvious intent.

"Interesting," Alpha said.

Kalli peered over at what he was looking at with interest, then glanced up.

There was no obvious confrontation in the brief interplay which followed, but the guardian of this place was quite firm, in polite fashion, that they need not remain here any longer. Dolen did not argue the point and motioned the party back to the passage they had recently left.

"It would seem that our presence is accepted, if limited in scope... for now."

Kalli chuckled softly and headed off with him. "I'd generally expect as much, all things considered."

Alpha smirked and followed. "So... what is our objective at this 'node'?"

"In truth, this makes far greater sense to me now," Dolen responded with no hit of rancor at the ejection. "Surprising, after a fashion, that we were allowed to proceed thus far without being turned aside. One might suspect my brethren of a test of one kind or another. Or something else entirely obscure."

Kalli said, "Heh. You know they must be really enigmatic when you call them that too," she snickers softly.

Alpha chuckled.

"Riddles and enigma simply are," Dolen replied with absent amusement. "They serve many purposes, not the least of which is forcing an evaluation of self and all that is around you to evaluate their answer. The question is what is missing, but my brief examination of the node did point readily toward more central domains wherein it might be found."

"I would imagine so, yes," Kalli said. "I'd imagine we'd also get kicked out of there too."

"I hate riddles," Alpha said. "Did I mention that before?"

Dolen chuckled lightly and turned to walk quickly along the passage, taking a separate turn from memory of the design from the node. "You may be surprised, Kalli May. Does it not seem strange to you that none have accosted us in this place?" An odd question, but serving another purpose entirely.

"Not especially, really," Kalli said. "If I meant any harm I would have just made a couple pinpoint shots with the particle cannon in the luminite power cores."

"Mm," Dolen replied, "I wonder if we may have survived such an act? Yet regardless, we have entered the home of a power which does not know us, in theory, and none has done more than ask our identity since first approaching. This is a ship designed for war and the manufacture of that needed for it, would you not do more to ascertain intent than assumption?"

"I don't know," Kalli said, fingering something in her pocket.

Alpha peered at her.

"They would, and are," Dolen responded with certainty. "I would be greatly surprised if we were not expected, in fact." He fell silent, his pace continuing unslackened and seemingly choosing corridors at random.

Kalli kept pace, trailing along close behind him and clasping her hands behind her back. "If you say so."

"Indeed," Dolen said simply, his step slowing to greater deliberation and stately cadence as they turned a corner and further along, two El'dari in full armor could be seen standing watch at the opening to what appeared to be an expansive greenhouse environment screened by a shimmering curtain of light.

Alpha looked at it oddly. Kalli peered with interest in the general direction of the vicinity. Dolen didn't halt his progress until within easy speaking range of the guards, he offered not a word to them however, continuing past without challenge or confrontation and through into the warmth of the dome beyond.

Kalli walked behind him, glancing from side to side and Alpha followed along really quietly, not that he was being amazingly talkative at the moment anyway.

Dolen's pace slowed as he entered a domain painfully remindful of a life now lost to him, the scents and sounds of the garden nonetheless working their magic to soothe that ache as they passed along one path to another. The flora was unfamiliar to him, but he knew that each type had come from widely different worlds and been sculpted to coexist as they might otherwise have refused to.

He was unsurprised to see an El'dari waiting near the center of the garden, kneeling beside a basin in which grew a wild strain that they were singing softly to as they encourage it with faint power. The silver-haired woman rose unhurriedly as they reach the edge of the stone ceremonial circle, and turned to study them before offering a quiet greeting.

"Kalli May, it is well to see you again." She shifted her disquieting gaze to Dolen and added, "Child of a different star, I welcome you. Please, be seated." She gestured to elegantly carved stone benches set precisely about the circle, and Dolen quickly complied.

Kalli stopped staring at everything around her momentarily to give a bow of greeting to the woman. "Greetings to you as well. Quite the lovely place you have here."

"Thank you," the woman replied warmly. "Such gardens are often the center and heart of the places sacred to the El'dari. It is rare that anyone beyond that circle is ever granted the opportunity to view one."

She settled delicately on the edge of the basin, idly caressing the jagged leaves of the plant that appeared even now to be trying to get _at_ her. 

"I am Elliandra Velarh," she added by way of introduction, "And I will affirm that the Eldar who has led you to this place did indeed speak the truth of matters, it was indeed a test although not a terribly difficult one, which I am pleased that he successfully unraveled. It gives me hope that such ones have not wholly lost the innate connection, the heart of what we are." She smiled and nodded at Dolen. "You are welcome here, son of distant Iyanden, though I must warn you that the purpose you sought in coming is not what you must ultimately pursue."

A gentle wave disentangled her hand from the grasping plant, unharmed for all that it may have tried, and signalling a departure from that line of conversation as her attention returned to the human woman.

"Tell me then, what is it that _you_ seek here?" Elliandra asked.

Kalli was silent for a long moment. She looked over at the woman pensively and commented, "Really, I'm not sure. I'd be hoping to find some hope in fighting Chaos. Answers. Direction." Kalli gave a bit of a shrug. "I'm a follower, not a leader. I don't want to lead, as much as it keeps getting thrust at me unwillingly," she sighed.

Elliandra nodded serenely, the answer nothing less than she had expected. "Just as you served my sister, you seek to serve again, and have found only one blind avenue and another in which to expunge the taint which clung to you so briefly. You seek a cause, a reason, one that reaches beyond the immediate minor difficulties troubling this place."

She raised a hand as though in gentle warding of disbelief.

"Yes, I do call them minor, and with reason," Elliandra said. "Such creatures cannot, in the nature of things, ultimately prevail, for they are simply elements of a greater whole. Life continues on, regardless of the strife which might assail it, as those of my distant cousins have yet to fully understand or recognize. Do not suffer the pangs of regret, child of Death, as you are but another acting as is only right in that grand dance."

She fell silent, her demeanor discouraging interruption as it showed there was something yet to be said.

"Seek within, and you will find your answer," she replied cryptically, eyes encompassing all three to indicate its relevance to all. "Know that you will find your path or paths, that the answer you seek is not so important as the question you have not yet asked of your soul."

Kalli gave a nod, not looking especially surprised at the answer, having not especially expected much differently. She gave a bit of a sigh and said quietly, "Very well, then. Thank you." She looked toward the ground thoughtfully.

Silver laughter echoed upon the air in reply to Kalli's resignation. Perhaps surprisingly, there was no hint of mockery in it or the glint of gentle humor in the El'dari ancient's eyes.

"I will not leave you wholly without clearer answer, do not fret," Elliandra continued, "There is surely that which you need to follow, one who must be awakened after long slumber, and you already possess the keys needed to solve his puzzle. Long and long ago, an ancient one fell into deep slumber, and he rests yet to this day. Seek his repose and you will see the beginning of an end for that which most troubles you in this time. It is, in the scheme of things, but a footnote, but is a matter which your urge to _do_ something vital may address. Bring the artifact of a distant world upon your journey, and it shall show you the way." She rose from her seat. "As a final note, I will say that your company is not so greatly different as your origins and histories may suggest. Similarity of goal and purpose shall lead you upon different paths at times, but always shall they converge once again, with each realizing their potential if only they seek it. You will find your cause and place, perhaps sooner than you might expect. Do not fear it or allow the past to keep you from what you must do." She turned from them, gazing into the garden, and continued with a singsong cadence, "One shall find their cause, another their heart, and the last that which most they seek if not where they sought it."

Kalli listened to her words quietly, staring at the ground thoughtfully, and gave a nod again. She wasn't hearing anything which was a surprise to her. "Then it shall be done," she murmured quietly.

Dolen rose silently and offered a formal bow to the now inattentive El'dari, his expression equally thoughtful as he turned to his companions and motioned them to follow him from the garden. Kalli trailed on after him closely, more engrossed in her own thoughts at the moment now than staring at everything around her.

They returned through the corridors of the ship in silence, paid only the smallest attention by those they passed, and returned without interruption to the cavernous hangar. Another craft was now settled beside the Darknova, its sweeping lines marking it clearly as El'dari design.

"Guess that means we're leaving now, then?" Kalli murmured, leaning against the hatch for a moment.

"Yes, it would seem so," Dolen replied absently, turning the conversation over in his mind even now, "It would seem that this diversion was wholly without purpose." He shook his head at that. "No, not entirely, as it is now at least known that the El'dari in this place are not only awake but preparing to act."

"I don't think it was without purpose," Kalli said, popping open the hatch and climbing inside, settling into the pilot's seat as Alpha headed into the back. "If anything, I suppose I should learn to trust my own instincts more."

An El'dari wearing a flowing robe approached them solemnly before as Kalli embarked, the glyphs embroidered upon it identifying him as belonging to the artisan's caste, a position of considerable prestige among their kind. He bowed briefly to the group and extended a hand, a shard of crystal resting in the palm, "This is offered to speed you upon your way."

Dolen looked at the El'dari, one brow rising as he lifted a hand to accept the seemingly random gift, and the other simply bowed again and departs the landing bay. He looked at the crystal with surprise, then stepped into the entryway but went no further, "It would seem that she planned to aid us in other ways," he merely said.

Kalli chuckled and grinned a bit, and went to power up the Darknova.

Dolen shook his head in bemusement and stepped back out of the Darknova, surprise fading away to appreciation of the sheer beauty of the gift he'd been given as he approached the smaller craft. Not even so spacious as the Darknova, he knew, but the gesture was profound. He circled the other craft silently, studying it from all angles before finally using the crystal to gain access to the fighter craft.

Time enough to test its limits, he knew, and he focused on familiarizing himself once more with the only subtly different controls from what he'd known before. Touching the crystal control matrix, he focused on the communications array and sent a signal to the Darknova for confirmation as systems hum smoothly to power.

"Where to now, Kalli May? It would seem our current mission is no more."

Kalli glanced over the vessel appraisingly from inside the Darknova and said, "What's the radiation shielding on that like?" She was silently going to miss having him along a bit as she powered up the Darknova and lifted off. "I've a mind to stop by Epsilon Station first. It's located near a neutron star."

"It shall suffice," Dolen replied with mild amusement. "These craft are aptly named, for the very fires of the Warp itself cannot touch them. A Phoenix. If you will transmit the coordinates, I shall set them in place to follow and keep pace."

The smaller craft rose with a smooth thrumming from its rest and floated gently in the air, awaiting his direction with hair-thin responsiveness.

Kalli transmitted the coordinates and headed out to cross through the nebula again, mumbling something along the way with regards to annoying green clouds and asteroids.

Dolen examined the crystal matrix as they slid smoothly from the bay, and transmitted the detailed information held within it to the Darknova. Standard sensors might be fouled, but there were obviously other means employed by the El'dari to navigate through the maze. He settled the sleek craft in a gentle orbit that switched from above to below the Darknova as needed as they passed through.

"Oddly enough, my first real brush with death was with a couple big rocks in the Cryces Asteroid Field, shortly before I decided to become a Death Dancer," Kalli commented as she wove her way through the nebula.

"Random universal phenomena are among the most common of dangers," Dolen agreed readily. "Even more so, I might suspect, than the more mundane and paid attention to incursions of enemy factions."

He chuckled lightly, allowing a moment of the carefree as an asteroid approached and he directed the nimble fighter to skim perilously close along its surface, enough so that a trail of dust followed his wake upon the other side.

Kalli chuckled softly, and brought the ship through the nebula and out into open space on the other side. "Clearing nebula. Inputting coordinates. Locking on. Engaging jump drive. Wormhole... open." The swirling rift in space had appeared before the Darknova, which flew in to enter the opening.

Dolen restrained his momentary enthusiasm, though grinning still as he swooped back to follow closely in her wake. The spatial disturbance of the wormhole flared into existence, and he guided the sleek craft neatly through it behind the Darknova. Once within, he engaged automatic monitoring and examined a few oddities he'd noticed in the crystalline node's control structure.

"Course engaged," he responded, "And now we wait."

Kalli leaned back in the pilot's seat and checked the readouts. "ETA two hours," she said over the comm to him. "That's better. Just a skip around the block."

Tinkering with the interface, Dolen settled comfortably in the pilot's couch and closed his eyes, the node's structure dancing in his vision. "Engage," he murmured, though no speech was truly required through the link, and he felt a distinct twisting as the subroutine locked onto the communication channel to the Darknova and poured power through it. He 'opens' his eyes once again to look around the cockpit of the Darknova.

The projection flickered momentarily as he stretches, but solidified as the node corrected for minor interference, and he offered a quirky grin to Kalli, "An interesting voyage all told so far, would you not say?"

Kalli grinned and waved absently at him. "Indeed, I'd say so." She stretched a bit.

Dolen looked at a projected hand with amusement, particularly as he pressed it to a panel and met resistance generated by the node. "Interesting adaptation for psychological effect." He shrugged off the amusement, obviously much more at ease now, and looked over at Kalli. "What thoughts have struck you, in light of events?"

Kalli gave a slight shrug. "Should run into the Shadow of Doubt at Epsilon as well, I think." She tapped absently at the console. "It's been the biggest rebel base of operations since the Empire's ships can't handle the radiation there for the most part to bring any major attacks against it."

Dolen nodded thoughtfully, then shrugged. "I am uncertain that the path ahead is to follow in the wake of that ship. There is undoubtedly some import to its journey here, as the odd being Aviel reminds me much of a Farseer, but is that destiny the one to be pursued? I know not, at least yet."

"Aviel's a strange one," Kalli said. "She's the one who warned me about what the Karzan Empire was planning with their psionics... I suppose I shouldn't blame her so much for what happened afterward, though. I know she's what the Elkandu call a 'Chronomancer', a 'Time Mage' I suppose whatever that's supposed to mean..."

"The extent of her powers, I could not begin to guess," Dolen responded. "Yet she bears the same enigmatic bent as the Farseers, and they are indeed capable of seeing the varied skeins of time. The comparison is one which has made me consider the correlation between the 'magic' of this place and the different abilities inherent to my kind." He chuckled. "Not to mention the experience of channeling such 'magic' here much as in ceremony."

"I don't think, from my experience, that there's much relation to what the Karzans call 'magic' and what the Elkandu call 'magic'. From what I've seen of Elkandu 'magic', it appears much the same as what Karzans might call 'psionics'."

"That would be much my impression," Dolen agreed readily. "Waking the El'dari of Lezaria was not so very different from the ceremonies conducted upon distant Iyanden, the taste of the Power only subtly different in nature and yet considered magic in that place. It has forced me to consider the Eldar of my world and wonder what potential might be locked within them."

"And that, I couldn't begin to tell you," Kalli said. "I don't think I know my _own_ potential. My mother tried to engineer me with the gene for psionics, and for the longest time I'd believed she had failed and I was actually psi-blind. But such was not, in fact, the case..."

Dolen turned aside his own musing for the moment, curiosity stirred by her own tale. "What then was the case?" he asked simply.

"Apparently, because of the genetic modifications, my brain was wired differently than most humans, so to speak. It wasn't working on the same wavelength, so most of the Karzan telepaths could never read me, or vice versa."

"Have you ever sought to explore it more thoroughly?" Dolen asked. "It would seem that the discipline of your training would be well suited to the pursuit of such inherent powers." Self-discipline indeed, he mused, something which might well allow for such things or lock them safely away.

"I have, somewhat," Kalli said. "Tried a bit of what the Elkandu call 'Seeking', tried to get training as a Jedi in the Star Wars universe." She shrugged a bit. "Of course, aside from some small improvements about the only thing I really accomplished was discovering that I'm absolutely horrible at meditating."

"Meditation is not such a terrible thing," Dolen replied with a chuckle. "It serves many purposes, including allowing a clarity of thought and purpose which might otherwise be distracted by matters unresolved to the inner mind. Surely it may serve the same purpose as dreaming, in that regard, if you truly allow your mind to wander and free itself of conscious constraint."

"I'm not to say that it's a bad thing or anything like that," Kalli said with a wave of her hand. "I'm just saying that I'm not very good at it. I also don't sleep much, either. I generally only sleep when I literally can't remain conscious due to injury or something..."

Dolen nodded, having some understanding. "You search forever for activity, something to keep you from the very things which meditation would invoke. Tis not necessarily an ill thing, but you might find it of considerable benefit to pursue it further. I know, of personal experience, that it may well save your sanity in the face of events that you have no control nor any wish to be a part of."


	8. Retaking Epsilon Station

They arrived in the Epsilon System, the rebel base near the neutron star, and dock at station. The Shadow of Doubt and a couple of Starfire-class cruisers were also docked there.

Although as they arrived, it became fairly clear that the place was not precisely free of Chaos involvement. Kalli meandered off the ship to try to figure out what was going on here. Dolen lands his own craft and followed Kalli, having never been to this place before assuming that all was as it should be unless told otherwise. 

Kalli went over to Dolen and said, "Hmm, something's not quite right here. I can't put my finger on just what, though..."

Dolen looked around, the wild array of entities sparking nothing beyond the normal bizarre mixture to his experience, but accepted her interpretation readily. "You are familiar with the environs," he replied with a nod of his head before seating his helm in preparation. "I will trust to your judgment in the matter."

She went over to a nearby Rabbit standing conveniently around and said, "Hey. What's been happening here lately?"

The rabbit said, "Some crazy Chaos cultists have sealed themselves in the lower decks and are working on some sort of device. We've been trying to get down there but with the main reactor and such down there have been unable to do so without damaging the station."

Damage to the station would seem to be the least of their concerns. Dolen fumed silently but schooled himself to calm. This place was unused to the ways of Chaos foes and he could not blame them for that... much. "Who is in control of attempting to access that section of the station?" he asked simply instead.

"Uh... I dunno," the bunny said, shrugging.

The response should not surprise him in this place, and Dolen restrained the impulse to reply heatedly to the infuriatingly common lack of any structure. He merely nodded, remaining blandly polite as he asked for directions to the affected area.

Kalli smirked a bit and headed down that way. Along the way, she explained, "In theory, all Death Dancers are of equal rank, which is -- or at least was, before the rebellion -- above the Karzan Military. Except for the Empress's Own, who answered only to the Empress. In practice, I'm about the closest thing they have to a leader anymore, and they'll generally listen to me."

"At least there is some sort of command ideal within the organization," Dolen replied quietly, not managing to keep a slight seething from his tone. "It may well prove useful if the Chaos minions are to be routed out of their chambers before completing whatever they seek."

"I believe you would be correct in that assessment," Kalli said. "If they're building what I think they're building..."

Dolen didn't look over as she spoke, the rifle he'd obtained aboard the Eyes of Truth being unlimbered and set to the ready as they walked. "And what do you suspect their intent to be?" he asked briefly.

"I suspect they're trying to build a Geneforge," Kalli said quietly. She headed down to the lower decks.

From the name alone, Dolen rather suspected that its completion would be highly non-beneficial to the area at the very least, and nodded sharply. "I presume this would aid them in mutation," he said, then added, "Regardless their efforts must be thwarted."

Kalli said, "I've seen what one of those things can do... It changes their entire being, their mind, body, and soul, makes them incredibly strong and powerful with innate magical abilities... I _don't_ think the Rabbits up there realize what they're up against, or they'd consider blowing up the station a small price to avoid letting this fall into Chaos's hands."

"That option," Dolen replied dryly, "is not one which failed to cross my mind. The nature of the work as stated makes its destruction all the more imperative."

They came to a large, sealed blast door. Its original purpose was most likely to protect the people on the station in the event of something going disastrously wrong in the laboratories, but at the moment it was keeping people out rather than keeping things in. Kalli peered at it for a moment, and said, "Hmm."

"The time which would be required to cut through that," Dolen indicated the door, "Would likely be better served finding alternative methods of entry, even perhaps through the outer hull of the station. I think it would trouble no one unduly were they to be drawn screaming into the void of space."

"I'm going to see if my security override codes still work," Kalli said, heading over to the terminal and testing them. After several minutes of that, she shook her head. "Nope... I've top-level permissions on the system but they've managed to lock me out anyway."

"Unsurprising, as one would expect someone to have already attempted such access," Dolen replied, examining the hallway they were standing in, "What of maintenance access, service tunnels, or something similar?"

"Hmm. There should be something somewhere..." Kalli pondered. She brought up a schematic of the station on the screen. "That one there looks like our best bet, I think... It's a little roundabout but it should get us down there."

Dolen looked over her shoulder at the image and nodded crisply. "If naught else, with minor damage to the structure we might obtain easier access..." he pointed at a cross-corridor that would likely be separated by a bulkhead, "here, cutting through the intervening sections."

Kalli nodded, and proceeded to climb into the maintenance shaft. Dolen followed after, his greater height and bulk hindering him further than she, but he did not complain as he would sooner leap into a fusion core than face Chaos unarmed or armored. Thankfully they found the tunnels more or less unblocked, although they did encounter a couple hatches that required security codes to bypass. Kalli's codes, however, opened them.

"It would appear that they have not considered all possible avenues of resistance," Dolen mentioned with disdain as a hatchway opened to grant them passage. "More the fools, they." He continued onward in her wake, keeping track of their passage as well as he might.

The shaft brought them out into another antechamber, and Kalli oriented herself and said, "We're inside."

Slipping from the tunnel with hardly a sound, Dolen examined their surroundings with vigilant alertness. "What size area are they likely to require to construct this device?" he asked. "That shall narrow our search requirements considerably."

"I don't know," Kalli said, "The original I saw was powered by huge crystal spires over a large pool of glowing liquid..." She headed off in search of it.

Dolen followed after, considering the situation, then quietly asked, "Can you access the station's power requirements from a terminal or other access point down here? It would surely show us their location if your description of the similar device is any indication."

"The main power core is down here," Kalli said. "It wouldn't be that difficult to route it to the forge from there... Hmm."

"Such activity would surely require close proximity then," Dolen replied thoughtfully, "Lest they were willing to expend considerable effort in that redirection of power. If naught else, assailing this power station would assuredly draw their attention away from their works and to a venue of our choosing."

Kalli headed down the corridors toward the main reactor. They came out onto a catwalk over a large chamber. It was much as Kalli described -- four crystal spires sending energy into a glowing purple pool of strange liquid. The concentration of magical radiation in the room made the air waver and visibility difficult.

Dolen drew in a hiss of breath at the caress of foul magics, remaining silent as he looked over the edge of the catwalk to the floor below in search of the foul creatures certain to be working upon the infernal device. The structure itself, he was sure, would be protected by means most unconventional, and likely be ill advised to disrupt regardless as the power plant was involved.

Far below, there were a number of Cybions working, some of them distracted and dozing into a trance-like state and then blinking suddenly after a few moments. Some monitoring the power flow, or working on peripheral devices, measuring the consistency of the liquid and performing other experiments.

Dolen counted silently to himself, weighing the tactical situation, then moved to stand above one such group. He placed one leg over the railing in preparation to drop to the ground below and engage, making a gesture to his companion toward another suitably advantageous position.

Kalli pulled out her blaster and lightsaber in each hand. She climbed over to the railing and nodded silently to him.

Upon seeing her confirmation, he secured the rifle over his shoulder and made use of his own pistol and blade, the drop a minor one to either of them considering their agility. With a sharp nod to her, he dropped and moved immediately to action.

Kalli ignited her red lightsaber on the way down, and proceeded to do some impressive acrobats that were probably not even physical possible without the assistance of gravity manipulation and telekinetics.

Without pause or hesitation, Dolen trusted Kalli to cover the arc that he was blind to, something perhaps odd but which he would consider another time. He leapt to the attack without cry or sound, instead allowing pistol and blade to speak for him as they cut a swath through his foes.

Kalli leapt lightly to and fro, avoiding their sluggish attacks easily and swiftly cutting them down one by one. Within minutes, the two of them were the only things moving in the laboratory.

Dolen looked about him as the last of his opponents drop only to find that Kalli was the only thing standing besides himself. The adrenaline edge of combat fades and he found himself not even slightly short of breath, the carnage total and short of duration. "I am leery of simply destroying their construction," he mused after a moment, stepping past a fallen body with distaste.

Kalli went over to the terminal and peered over the readouts a bit. She shook her head. "I can't even begin to understand what they were doing well enough here to even shut off the power to it. The last one, I destroyed with a few blasts of a particle cannon to the main facility. Well, I pretty much destroyed most of the mountain. I'll prefer to blow up the station only as a last resort, if we can't figure out another way to manage it."

"Is there a control mechanism which might allow those above to gain access once more?" Dolen asked. "I would greatly prefer not to meddle with that which is unknown, I have seen the results of such tampering entirely too often." Normally at the hands of humans and Eldar technology, he mused. "The danger, at the least, is contained and may be cleansed by safer methods."

"There's mention here of some gloves," Kalli said. "Yes, the original Geneforge required use of gloves to operate... It mentions that they're in Storage Room C."

"Mm, I shall see if I might discover them, then," Dolen responded and moved off in search of said items, not straying too far as the creatures obviously had not, and returned a short time later with what he considered might be the proper items. Perhaps. What did he know of Chaos machinery, after all?

He offered them to her as though handling live serpents. They fairly well looked like such. They seemed to be half-alive, with odd tubules and openings along them apparently for control of the flow of the liquid through them.

Kalli nodded, taking them and looking them over. "Yes, these look like the ones. Hmm." She cautiously approached the Geneforge pool. As she did so, the liquid in the pool seemed to move away from her slightly for some reason.

Dolen considered it for a moment, then sighed as he followed her. "It may well be best that I attempt it, Kalli May. They appear to be sufficiently bulky that they might fit above my armored gauntlets with no difficulty. I would at least have some protection from it."

Kalli looked at him in a fairly horrified manner. "Hell no I'm not using this thing. But they seem to be reacting to the gloves somehow." She waved them over the pool, and it seemed to push away from where the gloves are. "Sides, it'd probably choke on your DNA and turn you into a writhing skinless monster before you die a slow and agonizing death."

"They may well be the pathway to disabling the device without destroying the power plant within, with a sizable part of this station to go along with it." Dolen replied with a mixture of revulsion and resignation. "Unless you may think of other means by which to do so?"

"Perhaps so," Kalli said, looking at the gloves and at the pool a bit. "Hmm." She proceeded to toss the gloves into the pool. Clearly they were not meant to be inserted in such a manner, and the pool immediately started to boil and writhe about like a living thing, giving off spurts and sparks. Kalli decided it prudent to back away very quickly.

"Perhaps not the wisest of plans," Dolen replied quickly, echoing her steps backward as the pool reacted ever more violently. "Though perhaps better than the idea of attempting to use it, it may suit us well to return to a higher level."

He followed action to deed, taking but a moment to snare her in passing as he sprinted for the stairs leading up to the catwalk. Kalli didn't even bother with the stairs, however, leaping upward with assistance of her gravity manipulators and landing lightly on the catwalk again.

The Geneforge continued to boil and bubble below, the ejections of which ripped apart some of the corpses which were laying too close to it, giving a fair hint as to what might happen to any flesh near it. But after several seconds of bubbling and hissing, the liquid in the pool was gone and the gloves appeared to have been destroyed by the reaction.

"That," Dolen said with grim amusement, now upon the catwalk once more and looking below, "was a potentially bad idea." He glanced over at Kalli, his expression hidden as he shrugged. "It did suffice for the task, however. Shall we return to the unformed rabble above and inform them that their difficulty is resolved?"

Kalli chuckled and said, "Well... it just felt like the right thing to do."

She hopped down to finish the job and dismantle the thing well enough so that it couldn't be easily recreated, after making sure the chemical reactions had died down. This "dismantling" involving unplugging it from the power core, busting the crystalline basin to pieces, and erasing any computer records and data that might be used to reconstruct it.

Dolen chuckled quietly as he returned to lend a hand at the task, "I suppose that listening to one's instincts is not such a terrible thing to do, after all."

With the basin smashed, the computers cleared, Kalli proceeded to unlock access to the blast doors. They didn't, of course, seal them out from in here, since anyone outside trying to get in wouldn't be in here, obviously. And so the station would be returned to its normal state of insanity, with beings of all types running amok without any real semblance of order, getting in each other's way, and generally contributing to another form of chaos entirely. As it has always been. They were rebels. Noble freedom fighters thrown in with galactic scum.

Dolen began to despair for this world, seeing ever more of the disorder that they seem so intent on allowing to run free. One day he might change that estimation, but he doubted it would be any time soon.

Kalli headed up level to tell the Death Dancers their problems have been taken care of. At least, that particular problem. They were already insane and power-hungry. The Cybions were attempting to alter their bodies with genetics and cybernetics in order to create stronger, smarter, better beings. Well, they kind of failed on the "smarter" part at least.

Dolen followed after, still seeing little real difference in the general chaos-riddled routine of the station, but he maintained his peace other than the occasional caustic thought in that direction.

The main difference was, the rebels might be disorganized and chaotic, but at least they weren't going to destroy the universe. Save, perhaps, through inaction or inability to react appropriately to a given Chaos incursion. But they meant well and were perfectly willing to fight to the death for a cause they believed in. Definitely pointed in their favor, but add a little order to that and it was fighting to the _other guy's_ death for the cause.

Kalli approached the nearest Death Dancer. "The project the Cybions were working on on the lower decks has been destroyed and the blast doors opened again. There may still be a few of them running around down there. Shoot them on sight. And if you see _any_ trace of Chaos activity in this system again, destroy them immediately."

The Dancer said, "Yes, ma'am!"

Dolen was nearly utterly shocked upon hearing the crisp and affirmative reply to Kalli's orders. It was the first indication he had encountered since his own troops of any command structure. As the other Dancer moved off to attend to the orders, Dolen replied with quiet humor, "I believe that I greatly envy you that, Kalli May," indicating the departing figure with a wave.

"What's that?" she said as she headed off to locate the mess to relax with, now that the immediate issues had been taken care of.

"Discipline and order," Dolen replied quietly, the momentary amusement fading. "It is the first sign of such that I have seen in quite some time now, other than perhaps hints thereof upon El'dari domains."

"Meh. The Death Dancers are the most disciplined people I know," Kalli said. "That they don't have a formal command structure doesn't mean there isn't one. If all Death Dancers are supposed to be considered equal, that's not really true in practice. In practice, it tends to fall to the most experienced and capable of them."

"Then perhaps, within their ranks, there is yet hope," Dolen replied, then shook his head. "At any rate, now that the immediate crisis is past, I am going to return and continue my familiarization and practice with the new ship. You may find me there if I am required for any reason."

He offered a polite bow and trotted off in the direction of the landing bay. Kalli likewise gave him a bit of a bow and went to get refreshments.


	9. Zillah Jordan

Kalli relaxed and ate and drank. There were other random people around off the Shadow of Doubt poking about, and apparently also a Starfire-class rebel cruiser named the Epiphany.

Dolen explored the confines of the new ship and its stores, replacing his borrowed weaponry with something more akin to his previous armory which he found there. There was, however, only so far that such familiarization may go when docked, and he eventually wandered out to explore the insanity of the station a bit.

The station might seem rather chaotic, but it wasn't really a military institute. It was a civilian base, and of civilians that have broken away from the Empire to do things that the Empire probably would not want them to be doing. In fact, some of those taking refuge on this station were probably very blatantly pirates and other galactic scum.

It was not terribly difficult to find oneself returning to the disdain and aloof nature inherent to his kind, Dolen mused, the decay of the soul so evident about him serving well to draw him back into its protective embrace. Was it any wonder that the El'dari separated themselves? It did not take long for the novelty of the situation to wear thin, and he began searching for more familiar elements.

Off in another section of the station, there was a group of young Death Dancers, hardly more than children, running target practice drills with lasers against moving targets.

Dolen paused in his meandering search upon finding the gathering, silently approving of the industrious application of time in the midst of the chaos. He chose an unobtrusive vantage point to observe for a time, not wishing to disturb their training any more than he would similar young Guardians of his own kind.

The youngest of them, a dark-haired girl no more than twelve, seemed to be doing quite excellently. With her inhumanly quick movements and accuracy, she was no doubt one of the genetically enhanced Cybion children that they had been working on.

Tampering with the matrix of life itself was something to give a twitch of unease to one of his history, bringing rise to memories of Genestealers and other such abominations. Dolen could not, however, argue with the apparent effectiveness of the process, nor argue with the regime of discipline and training that went along with it. If such allowed greater resistance to the encroachment of Chaos, then what was there to oppose in it?

After some minutes of that, the kids broke for lunch and marched off to the cafeteria. The girl noticed him watching and looked over to him, cocking her head in his general direction.

Dolen watched the end of their session with quiet approval, and the composure with which they head off added another level of respect for the training, reminding him of nothing so much as those taught in the defense of a Craftworld. He did not miss the faint indication of curiosity from the student who remained behind and it drew him to approach. "Greetings," he offered simply.

The girl bowed to him and said, "Greetings to you as well. I have not seen you in this place before. I am Zillah Jordan." From the stilted, precise manner of her speech, it was clear that she hasn't really spent much time in the "real world" rather than the classroom.

Dolen crouched, not condescending but rather bringing his greater height in line with her own as he replied, "I am newly arrived, only recently finished dealing with the intrusion of Chaos below alongside another of your lineage. I am Dolen Ista, formerly of Iyanden, and it is a pleasure to meet you."

Zillah nodded to him and said, "It is a pleasure." She looked over his manner of attire with curiosity and commented, "Why do you say 'formerly'? I have not heard of a planet by that name."

"It is far from here," Dolen replied with a faint smile. "Likely a place that I shall never return to, nor you encounter, though I suspect you might find some kindred souls in the manner of your training and dedication. The El'dari of this galaxy are our kin."

"Never is a long time," Zillah said, looking at him intently with piercing hazel eyes. "Why did you leave?"

"Fate and chance are forever a factor in the life of any warrior," Dolen answered, the smile quirking to a grin. "I would highly recommend extreme caution when approaching facilities of unknown purpose, lest you seek the unknown."

"You did not answer my question," Zillah pointed out. "People always seem to do that when they don't want to give a direct answer. Or when the question makes them uncomfortable. Like when they tried to explain about the 'birds and bees'." She screwed up her face in a look of puzzlement.

Dolen studied the girl with a mingled surprise and wry amusement, understanding well the desire for truth beyond what is often stated. "You are right," he offered in oblique apology, touching fingertips to his chest in emphasis. "Often those of us who see beyond a brief span of years do dance about and avoid answers, and it is not such a difficult one to reply to, is it?"

He paused a moment in thought, considering the question in its fullness, then continued. "Though I shall not address the other oft-avoided matter, better that come to you in the fullness of time," he avoided the 'birds and bees' with determination, "I will answer your first, for though it was chance which brought me from my place of origin, it was choice which has kept me here. I have seen some echo of what has bound me in your own organization; a determination to do what is right, to protect that which is unable to defend itself. Would you, even young as you are, merely turn your back upon a place that was not your home yet was in danger, given the opportunity to do so?"

Zillah thought about that for a moment and shook her head. "I am a Dancer on the Edge of Death. I will fight to the death to defend the weak and protect the innocent," she parroted, repeating the lines her teachers had drilled into her.

Dolen recognized a rote response when he heard one, and chuckled softly, reaching to lightly tap her chest. "Tell me what that means here, young one," he encouraged gently, "Not the words of your order, your mentors, nor any other. What does your heart tell you of it? I suspect it shall be much the same as what mine demanded of me."

Zillah put her hand to her chest, peering at it for a moment. She then looked back up at him. "I have heard about bad people that would hurt people. I do not fear them. But they tell me I must stay here and train and not fight them yet."

Dolen nodded. "You are not yet ready for all that awaits you in the world beyond, Zillah Jordan. Your time will come, as it does for any young warrior. The troubles of this Empire are not nearly ready to surrender their vile cause, you shall see enough and more than enough to justify your training, teaching, and rigorous discipline."

Zillah gave a thoughtful nod, and said, "I must go get lunch now. It was a pleasure speaking with you." She bowed and darted off the way the others went.

Dolen rose as she darted off, his thoughts a jumble of mixed opinions upon this place. The elements were so vastly contrasting as to be opposites, yet in some aspects was there yet hope that they might well stave off the hordes of Chaos. In time. He stared thoughtfully after her for a minute more, then shook the consideration aside in favor of finding another from that line.

Kalli was sitting in a mess hall reclining to some bizarre form of music involving wind-chimes and the thrum of an engine at different pitches. She was drinking some orangish liquid.

Dolen wandered through the hall in his idle search, his attention momentarily engaged by the 'music' at play in the background as he stopped to listen to the transmission for a brief moment. Shaking his head, he continued over to Kalli's table and stopped. "Would you be against company for a time, Kalli May?"

"No, not at all," Kalli said, gesturing at him to sit and sipping at her juice a bit.

Dolen availed himself of the offer and settled lightly into a chair, displaying an odd combination of readiness and relative ease. "What news from any front?" he asked with casual politeness.

"Well, they cleared out the lower decks and are cleaning up the mess down there," Kalli said. "Found a few more cultists holed up in a storage room..."

"Tis no great surprise." Dolen nodded. "Disorganized and lethargic as they seemed to be it was unlikely they not find such strays lurking somewhere. Well that the matter is largely resolved, that those who seek training here not be exposed so quickly to the dangers which await them."

Kalli gave a nod. "This has always been something of a safe haven for the rebels, since the Empire has never been able to attack here in force..."

"I would not expect those of Chaos to remain so complacent," Dolen said. "Yet perhaps other matters within the Empire shall absorb their attention for some time longer, perhaps enough to usher the next generation forth to add to their woes."

Kalli said, "There's many worlds in the Karzan Empire, and I don't expect their fleet to have been completely scattered or obliterated. They won't give up Terra without a fight."

"Mm, I expect less of 'loyal' imperial forces than the hands of the rebels, in truth," Dolen replied. "The cadre of loyalists is likely rife with Chaos' foul taint, considering the former Emperor's allegiances. The rebel factions may well serve to sow further disorder in that path, however, merely by turning those forces' attentions inward."

Kalli said, "Indeed." She sighed softly. "I don't trust the Empire to defend an outhouse, never mind a planet. I could always get past their lines and mess around with them whenever I wanted. However, I'm going to need to check up on the status of their prisons, see if they still have any rebel prisoners... I freed over a thousand of them last month on Primus, but I fear they've probably taken more."

"Strange that greater chaos has not held sway in the wake of the Emperor's demise," Dolen mused. "Such dynastic arrangements are generally either immediately settled or descend quickly into widespread conflict, one wonders upon the true breadth of Chaos' grasp within. That considered, you may well find numerous additions to that prison populace, a repressive regime never remiss in removing its dissidents."

Kalli grunted. "I don't really know the situation on the core worlds at the moment. They've been cut off from the cybernet for the most part..."

"Having an inkling of the nature of man," Dolen sighed, "I would presume that such isolation would result from a strengthening in the religious order, perhaps calling upon their 'martyred' Emperor to use whatever means that their leaders and Chaos might deem worthwhile. The populace would quickly buckle beneath the whips of fanatics."

Kalli sighed. "You're probably right about that. There are times I think I'm about the only sane person in the entire damned galaxy."

Dolen was forced to chuckle at that. "Kalli May, you may well be the only sane mind native to this galaxy, you are certainly among the first that I have found since coming here. I have found myself facing that exact same frustration upon occasions far too numerous."

"Going to have to get an update on it though. If they've manage to keep the buoys around Terra up, which they were last I checked, they can hold the system if they can hold the gates..."

"And create a stronghold for Chaos that would be most difficult to purge," Dolen agreed. "It would serve them well and provide ample native populace to pervert to the cause in the meantime. Such cults are readily used for such hideous undertakings."

Kalli pulled out a data pad and poked at it a bit, peering at it pensively. She murmured, "All things considered, I'd think it imperative to prevent control of the gate network from falling into Chaos's hands."

"That would indeed prevent them from creating such a stronghold, if what I have learned of the setting is accurate," Dolen replied. "Better that it remain inoperative than to allow them access and prevent any other from breaching their defenses through small, fortified avenues of attack."

She put the data pad on the table between them. It showed on it a map of the jump gate network. "And you know what? This looks like a job for Asura." She chuckled. "I'm sure he can come up with something. If he hasn't already come up with something to fight Chaos as it is."

"Then go forth and make certain that this one is already aware of this possibility." Dolen chuckled lightly. "Even if so, then perhaps there may be that in which he requires assistance of a warrior of your talents."

"Contacted him already," Kalli said. "Says he'll get to work on it." She chuckled. "Asura's the best mechanic I've ever seen... Kind of funny that, considering how low the technology on his homeworld was... They barely knew what an engine was."

"Aptitude does indeed arise in the oddest places," Dolen replied. "Such was the case in the Empire of Man in regard to some of the kin which were rediscovered after long years."

"I suppose not having to carry around a bunch of spare parts helped with that too," Kalli mused. "I have no idea how he learned how to make machines out of thin air..."

"Magic," Dolen snorted, innate distrust battling yet with what was coming to be known, and he sighed lightly. "Though I should not so quickly disparage it, seeing as there are many things here which I have found to be a simple extension of harnessing internal energies rather than those of the Warp."

"It was after we visited the planet on which we found the first Geneforge," Kalli said. "There were these people there called Shapers who could, well, effectively create life..."

"Create, or distort?" Dolen asked, the two abilities often falling within the domain of Chaos, or the voracious appetites of the Reavers, in his experience.

"They could create and shape life, but it was strictly forbidden to use Shaping on humans. Which didn't stop some insane power-hungry people from doing it anyway, of course. The Geneforge and similar devices were quite illegal apparently."

"Such is the danger of power without discipline," Dolen muttered, largely to himself, then continued, "Unsurprising that such abilities would lead to the corruption of some, and inevitably lead them to Chaos when they had awakened here."

"From what I understood, the Shapers were very disciplined and kept even their smallest secrets out of the hands of outsiders when they could. But it was their own who broke their laws eventually and were declared traitors for it."

Dolen snorted lightly, shaking his head. "Pay no heed to my cynicism, Kalli May, merely another musing I have pondered regarding the sanity of this galaxy on the whole. I would readily agree that my former lands were hardly 'sane' by any definition, but were surely not so vulnerable to the worst madness awaiting to strike here."

Kalli chuckled softly and leaned back in her seat, finishing her juice. "Well, with Asura taking care of the gates, I think we have other business to attend to elsewhere."

"And what business would that be?" Dolen asked without elaboration. One thing which he had begun to rely upon was that the Death Dancers were not likely to walk idly about the universe and occasionally wiggle their fingers to make trouble appear or disappear.

"This is where I would say something vague and unhelpful, but instead I'll just head for my ship whenever you're ready," Kalli chuckled, standing up and stretching and putting away the data pad.

"Are you saying such as I are aught but helpful?" Dolen replied with mock injury as he stood with easy grace. "You wound me deeply to assume I should ever prove enigmatic or less than fully forthcoming!"

Kalli chuckled lightly as she headed out to the docking bay.

Dolen was all too aware of his own inclinations, and he was far from the most reserved of them, thus he could little begrudge her the moment of amusement at his expense. Without comment he followed behind, humming softly to himself.

Kalli headed out over to the docking bay and hopped in her ship, seeming to be much more at ease knowing that Asura was on the job and trusting him to get it done.

Dolen leaned into the hatch of the Darknova, his expression one of polite inquiry as he asked, "And shall I accompany here or bring another craft? I fear the mysterious orders from on high leave me little information upon which to make such a decision." A faint smirk rose as he finished and awaited her reply.

"Hey, fly what you like, I think you know as well as I do where we're heading," Kalli said, settling herself into the pilot's seat. "Asura can deal with Chaos for the moment."

Dolen pondered that for a moment, then simply nodded and vanished to engage his own craft. "I think that perhaps one to watch the other's blind shall prove advantageous," he flickered across the comm. "Prepared to depart and accept coordinates."

Kalli powered up and took off out of the docking bay. The faint thrum of power echoing in the link to the crystalline node, Dolen guided his own fighter from the bay as though a predator swimming from the shadows. He also set a preliminary checklist of weapon, defense, and stealth systems in motion in anticipation of needing them in the not too distant future.

Kalli locked in the coordinates from memory, took a deep breath, and said into the comm, "Here goes nothing." She opened the wormhole and headed inside.

"Far more than nothing," Dolen retorted levelly, the greater part of his attention skimming through the masses of data fed from the node, focused on following the precise trajectory of the other craft. The brilliance of the Warp enfolded both craft, and he settled the ship into place 'above' the Darknova.

Kalli checked the readouts and said, "ETA, four hours." She exhaled and leaned back in the pilot's seat.

Dolen closed his eyes, the flicker of status checks circling at the fringes of his perception as he initiated the projector. "What may we expect upon arrival?" the solid image asked of the reclining pilot.

The coordinates she had set were the ones indicated in the recording of her first exploration to the planet where she found the ancient ruins. Kalli said, "I don't know. I really don't know."

Dolen 'reclined' as well, appearance thoughtful as he considered their destination, the coordinates ringing true at last. "I..." he began, then shook his head. "Though it would not surprise me to find elements of Chaos laying in wait, I doubt that the site itself shall prove disturbed. Do we proceed with caution, or break quickly for the planet itself?"

"It's pretty remote," Kalli said, "It's only the inconvenience to get there that prevented the foolish Primos from setting up a colony there yet. Well beyond the reach of the gate network." Kalli pondered. "Does that ship have a cloaking device?"

"Yes," Dolen replied to her question. "Whether the technology was one which the El'dari developed or borrowed from the Karzan, I cannot say, though I have seen similar use once before in a distant place." He shook aside the brief curiosity and added, "Chaos may be caught unaware, but do not rely upon it."

"We'll have to cross that bridge when we come to it," Kalli said, scanning the system diagnostics absently. "Hope for the best, prepare for the worst."

"And likely find the path between." Dolen nodded. "Regardless, I do find myself anticipating the exploration, my curiosity somewhat piqued by your own observations and some elements of what the Matron spoke upon."

"Perhaps we may, at last, find answers..." Kalli murmured.

"Perhaps," Dolen replied with equal thoughtfulness, replaying the even-to-him enigmatic words they'd received from the El'dari... Farseer, was perhaps the best term he could apply, though did such comparisons to what he knew even apply here?

He could be certain of very little any longer, but he did know that despite the seeming chaos of that which roiled about them there was some purpose, some reason. The realization struck him with some surprise, as it was not simply belief in the words of the Matron or faith in what he had been taught but rather something which he found himself to believe on another level entirely. Assuredly a conviction to appraise at another time, he mused.

"All systems are clear and ready upon my vessel, Kalli May. I shall see you again shortly." With that, he disengaged from the projector.

Kalli proceeded to take the intervening hours as an opportunity to run over stuff and dissect information on completely unrelated subjects. Dolen, ever more the one likely, took advantage of the opportunity to allow the muse to wander and follow the myriad paths of supposition, freeing itself from later intrusion at an inopportune moment.


	10. Memories of Blood and Fire

So, after the predetermined amount of time had passed, the ships emerged from hyperspace into the designated system, and found... it was pretty damn quiet here. Nothing of interest showed up on sensors. No signs of anyone even having been anywhere near here lately.

Scanning diligently, Dolen was unconvinced that something might yet await their arrival, perhaps hidden elsewhere in the system beneath a cloak such as their own. He didn't allow that paranoia to interfere, however, instead shifting his course to intersect with the planet they'd come so far to see.

"Well, I'm not even picking up any traces of ship engines around here recently. Going to drop into orbit and scan the surface a bit..." Kalli said, proceeding to do so.

"I shall observe the reverse," Dolen replied, diverging from her course to follow a curve along the planet in the opposite direction, allowing for maximum coverage in minimal time.

Some ways along the planet's surface, Dolen picked up a small colony of humans on a forest river below. No traces of advanced technology, however. Dolen relayed the information to Kalli, along with the confirmation that absolutely nothing else was to be found.

"I would wonder, however, whether the presence of the humans was detected in your prior survey?" Dolen asked via comm. "If not, their appearance in such short order is highly unusual."

"I wouldn't be too surprised if somebody had wandered in in the last four hundred years," Kalli said. "I'm not picking up anything else, either."

"Their apparent lack of the technological means to avail themselves of arrival is what puzzles me," Dolen responded. "Yet it is ultimately a separate issue, one hopes, and seeing nothing of suspicious nature I shall descend toward the specified site."

"They're probably hippies or Amish," Kalli said. "Humans who want to live without the presence of technology on the core worlds. Might've gotten a lift from a transport which left them here and flew off again."

Dolen stored away a couple more references for later research, but could not find immediate fault in her reasoning, merely the long earned suspicion. The Phoenix bit into the atmosphere, its energy fields eliminating the natural friction of the air as it descended toward the coordinates from her survey. Kalli headed down along with him, continuing to run scans and peer at the viewscreen. Dolen did not descend directly to the site of the ruins at the last, instead veering off on a slightly different vector to land a few kilometers away.

"I would not tempt the fates and El'dari defensive screens to appear directly above," he explained for the change of course. Though it would likely allow his craft to pass, he would not risk the Darknova as well.

Kalli was heading toward the site some ways away in which she landed originally. Landing outside the parameters of a combat drop was little more than an exercise in docking, and it passed without event, minutes later finding Dolen emerging and sealing the craft again behind him before crossing to the Darknova.

Kalli set the ship down easily, popped the hatch and climbed out, peering about the vicinity and glancing up at the trees. "Well, here we are..."

Having left the heaviest of his weapons aboard the ship, Dolen was instead carrying a small case with him as he stopped beside her. "Indeed," he replied quietly, the serenity of the place appealing and yet edged with tension.

Kalli had her luminite blaster and lightsaber at her side as usual. She gave a nod and started heading off cautiously in the direction she remembered it as having been.

Dolen opened the case as she started off, removing a scanner from within which remained attached for power and recording, then followed silently in her wake.

"This should detect the presence of such traps..." he faltered for a moment, then continued brusquely, "as the one you encountered before. It is likely that it remains effective even now, if no threat to either of us, and will provide an indication of the power which yet remains available to the defensive system."

Kalli gave a nod and headed along with him, making her way through the forest moving carefully without constantly getting a face full of spiderwebs or tangled up in underbrush or anything, like some people generally ended up doing when walking through the forest. Dolen followed after, ducking through the foliage almost as an afterthought as he watched the crystalline display intently for signs and warning, puzzled that nothing had yet registered. At all.

"That is odd," he murmured after a little while, "What distance would you place us from your original contact point?"

Kalli checked the coordinates and said, "We should be close." She continued on through the forest, peering about the vicinity carefully.

Dolen flickered through a quick diagnostic on the instrument and puzzled further as nothing was amiss. It was not until an almost subliminal remembrance triggered that he barked a sharp warning, "Stand your ground, Kalli May!"

Kalli stopped in her tracks, glancing back over to him. "What is it?"

Dolen froze in place as well, only slowly examining his environment with minimal movement with a coppery tang of remembered terror bitter on his tongue.

"This..." he managed, dryly, "Was not meant merely to conceal from the world at large, but our own as well."

He looked up, past the cover of trees that they were nearly out of, seemingly into the nothingness of the sky.

"What?" Kalli said in confusion, glancing about the vicinity.

"Perhaps it malfunctioned when last you passed this way," Dolen murmured, still intent on a distant point which _might_ shimmer akin to a heat haze. "This is old, ancient, even to me, and I have seen the like only once. If we approach, we may risk the Warp itself if the shielding is malfunctioning as the one I encountered before."

Kalli frowned thoughtfully, staring off to the point where she remembered the buildings to have been. "What do you suggest we do?" she asked him quietly.

Dolen walked to the fringe of the clearing but very deliberately avoids taking a single step further, absently returning the scanner to its case.

"I am not wholly certain," he replied, "Though I am loath to depart without further investigation merely due to unease." Pondering it a moment more, he straightened and glanced over at her with a quiet grin and a shrug. "I have already faced that once. I will test it again."

Without another word, he stepped into the clearing and a deep, rhythmic thrum could be heard, or more accurately felt through the ground as the very air before them shimmered to reveal what she had seen before. A baleful light shimmered atop the structure, crackling and hissing in the otherwise still air.

Kalli stared wordlessly at the construction, then glanced over to Dolen again to make sure nothing bad had happened to him or anything. She didn't exactly fully understand what was going on here. Dolen wasn't fully certain of what's happening himself, only that this structure was somehow connected to the one he had encountered before.

"I have seen such a place before," he said, "Though I would not have expected or recognized it merely on sight." He looked up at the faint pinprick above them, seething with the Warp. "For all I know it may well _be_ the same edifice, if it is connected to the Warp."

"How can that be?" Kalli said in confusion, taking a step forward as she stared as well.

"There are theories," Dolen replied, in quiet reverence, taking a few steps closer. "Though their full extent is beyond what I have studied, scattered records before the Fall spoke of a way that a thing might exist in a myriad shadows, through the Warp. I think that this... may be that of which they spoke."

"Wow," Kalli commented, fairly impressed by how esoteric that sounded, and daring to approach a bit closer herself. "So..."

"So, if its shadow shifted at such a time as last I approached it," Dolen replied, "It would be those very energies which drew me hence, though scattered elsewhere upon a different vector within the Warp. That I emerged at all..." He shook his head. "Not truly relevant to our observation, however. I suspect, however, that the unfamiliar construction is part of what enables this state. Furthermore," he added with a fair confidence, "Such workings would require a _great_ deal of power, and should lay quiescent for some time thereafter. Shall we test that hypothesis?"

The last was asked rhetorically, as he walked forward without hesitation, halting at the outer edge of the structure without any signs of ill fortune. Kalli followed after him with a smirk, not even pretending to have any bloody idea just what in the hell he was talking about now.

"Tis odd that no other defenses have been encountered," Dolen mused. "There is obviously power enough, yet nothing has befallen our efforts thus far. Intriguing. Let us seek a way within."

"There are times, I think, that I'm glad I'm incapable of feeling fear," Kalli commented randomly.

"It is not common for me, either," Dolen answered with a low chuckle. "But I will freely admit to considerable unease at the moment." He began circling cautiously, headed in the direction that he'd originally identified as a ceremonial circle. "Most likely they would stand before the entry to seal it."

Kalli glanced around the door a bit and trailed after him closely and refrained from making any comments or sick jokes about the circumstances.

Dolen moved to the center of the circle, studying the pattern of the design inscribed in stone, and murmured respectfully, "None who walked here left this place, all were sacrificed to protect it." He looked over to her, exceedingly bland, "I cannot fathom what they might go to such lengths to protect. Only once have I heard of such a thing and it was sealing an evil away."

Kalli did not feel the need to state the obvious in observing that whatever was here must be something important. She stared at what he was looking at in vague hopes of being able to decipher what he meant.

Tracing the pattern of the design with his eyes, moving in a slow circle, he brought the various elements represented by the glyphs together, and still their full import swam beyond his reach. He drew a deep breath and followed the final turn, through which the life essences of those ancients had passed up to the sealed doorway.

"There is room for a key," he said softly, tracing a small indentation with a fingertip. "A small crystal of some sort, or a sigil?" he trailed off in puzzled silence.

Kalli moved over to take a closer look at it, raising an eyebrow as she examined it.

Dolen examined the depression closely. "It is not something which we may have seen aboard the El'dari craft, not anything so obvious, but likely deeply intertwined with this galaxy. I could not say, and would not hazard a surmise as to how it might be bypassed."

Kalli put her hands in her pockets thoughtfully. "Hmm. Have I ever mentioned that I hate puzzles?"

"I do believe both you and Alpha have mentioned that fact at one point or another," Dolen replied with dry amusement, though it faded to thoughtfulness. "Perhaps something might be fashioned of one of the crystals from aboard my craft. With a sufficiently detailed scan it may be possible, particularly as it is of such small size."

"Hmm, I wonder." Kalli finally pulled out the thing she keeps fingering in her pocket. The heavy talisman of the rulers of the Karzan, blue and silver. She peered at it for a moment as she dangled it in her fingers.

Dolen looked aside at her movement, curious. "Mm? And what is that, then? Some bauble of one of the human worlds, or perhaps a trophy of Chaos?"

"No," Kalli said. "It's the symbol of the ruler of the Karzan Empire. I took it from the Emperor, but Alisa and her family bore it long before he usurped it..."

"A symbol carried by the El'dari Empress?" Dolen replied with a quirk of brow. "Tis somewhat odd for a leader of my blood to carry anything which did not bear some deep significance or hidden purpose, perhaps merely used to augment their power. What purpose did it serve?"

"I don't know," Kalli admitted. "She never told me..."

Dolen stepped nearer for a closer look at the object, its design seeming somehow alien to him. "Tis odd indeed," he said, "The design is indeed artistic, but far heavier and bulkier than one might expect. Perhaps a crystal is hidden within as a reservoir of power?" He shook his head and steps back, not making the obvious connection, "Strange, but bringing us no further in this."

"I'm not sure..." Kalli murmured. "I have a hunch..."

"Trusting that within was a greater part of what the Matron spoke," Dolen offered quietly. "What does this 'hunch' tell you?"

"I don't know," she said again. "You wanna take a look at it?" she said, offering it to him.

Dolen accepted the talisman, frowning thoughtfully at its weight. "That is odd indeed." He turned it in his hand, examining it closely. "Why would they make it of such crude and heavy materials when it is apparent they had access to far superior craftsmanship? Not only that, but of materials far more resistant to the inevitable wear of time and possibility of damage? Such an item could be shattered and crushed underfoot with hardly a pause." Almost as if that was what it was ultimately designed for, and to be remembered as should ill befall one leader before passing the signet on to the next and its importance... "Surely not," he muttered, glancing aside to her in question. "How much importance do you attach to this heirloom, Kalli May?"

"Er..." Kalli blinked for a moment. "I had considerably more to the ring I'd worn for centuries, and I destroyed that in a bout of 'screw you' some months back anyway."

Dolen offered a shocked, bemused expression to her response, but dispeled the momentary inclination to laugh outright at it in deference to her dignity. "So be it," he merely said, taking the edges of the symbol and bending them savagely. Sharper edges became evident as it deformed, and the object snapped abruptly in half with a bright glitter shooting out from its center.

Kalli looked mildly embarrassed at where it ended up, and pulled it out and examined it, raising an eyebrow as she looked it over. Refraining from any comment, much akin to his avoidance of young Zillah's frustrated question earlier, Dolen approached for a closer look.

"It would appear," he replied with commendably straight expression and offered the twisted remnants of the symbol to her, "That it was indeed something more than it appeared." He gestured to the indentation. "See then, if this is the key which was indeed sought."

Kalli pocketed the silver chain with a bit of a smirk and took the object over to the door to see. The crystal which was hidden within is indeed a perfect match for the indentation after a moment's reorientation, a light flaring deep within it at the same moment that the massive doors began to slide silently open. It seemed fused in place for now. A long hallway extended into darkness within, only a faintly eerie gleam from runes at even intervals intruding on the shadow.

"I believe, that was indeed the key," Dolen replied to the obvious and stepped to the entryway.

Kalli said, "Yes, I do believe so," and headed after him with a smirk, staring about intently at the immediate vicinity. "I had a hunch."

Dolen paced evenly down the corridor, faintly uneasy as not even the faintest sound reached them from the world beyond, in fact even that portal seeming to dim as they walk further along. He looked behind them, frowning thoughtfully as the distance traveled seemed far greater than each step would seem to indicate, but continued onward. They came at length to the end of the hall, the fact noted only as a greater opening into darkness and not even the symbols giving faint light.

"Where is the power?" he wondered aloud, "It is obviously still functioning, but not even light within? The runes were sufficient til now, but..." He triggered a switch in his armor, harsh light springing forth to illuminate the vast chamber that opened before them.

Kalli peered about, blinking a moment as her hyper-sensitive eyes had already been trying to adjust to the lack of light. "What..." she murmured, trailing off and leaving the question unasked.

The chamber was a vast dome, arching high above them, the walls completely covered in runes as far as they could see. There was a dais at the center of the chamber, which appeared to be nothing so much as an alter, its flattened top broken by crystalline spires in a circle, their pointed tips reaching toward each other at the center. Nothing else was immediately evident, at least until Dolen stepped through the archway. Something seemed to envelop him, faint ghostly light streaming from the nearest runes and converging, their effect obviously causing distress as he dropped to his knees with a strangled cry.

Kalli, reacting into combat posture almost instantly, tried to drag him out with a combination of gravity manipulation cybernetic implants and use of telekinetics. She easily moved him, the ethereal energies paying no attention to her at all and instead remaining circling about Dolen, diving through him at times, but always in contact. He shuddered violently, whipping his head from side to side, staring at something completely unseen and began to speak in the highly fluid, melodious tongue of his race. His ramblings made no sense at first, as they seemed to largely be identifying himself.

After a few more semi-coherent spates, however, it became apparent that he was answering someone that she could not hear, speaking of events from thousands of years past that meant nothing to this world. The singsong monologue continued, a spattering more of replies, and then he fell suddenly still, apparently unconscious as the wisps of energy dissipated slowly.

Kalli watched with concern, and did a quick check to make sure he was still alive, frowning in confusion and wondering what the hell was going on here. Dolen is indeed still breathing, the experience appearing to have been one more of the mind than the body, though the rigors of the experience might well indicate that the physical consequences could have been quite dire. His eyes flickered open after a few minutes and he looked around with confusion as though expecting to see something else entirely.

"What?" he began, then shook himself and unsteadily pushed up on one elbow. "Where did they..." he trailed off once more, looking around, only now seeming to focus on his companion and the expressed concern. Gathering his scattered thoughts, he tried again, "The guardians, they spoke to me."

"The who where?" Kalli said, looking down at him, then glancing back at the room he'd been in in confusion. She wasn't really too sure just what to make of all this.

Dolen rose stiffly, still unsteady in the wake of the psychic assault. "The guardians of this place," he replied, "Those who sacrificed themselves to remain forever vigilant until their duty be discharged." Taking a deep breath and expelling it slowly, he stepped back to the archway and looks within. "Their souls are bound here, held to make certain that... whatever they protect is not approached without just reason."

"Oh, well that's helpful," Kalli commented without _too_ much sarcasm at least. "So is saving the universe a just enough reason do you suppose? Man, deja vu..."

"Apparently it is," Dolen replied with grim amusement. "Else neither of us should have left this place with souls intact. They were quite thorough in their questioning." The last was said with shadows of pain, but he dismissed it as quickly as it rose. "Thus is the first barrier passed."

"The first?" Kalli wondered aloud. "What else is there?" She peered off into the room again curiously.

"You accuse my blood of being less than helpful," Dolen answered, "And you are quite correct. This secret was one likely passed from one generation of key holder to the next. We are the first since its creation that know not the path. I do believe, however," he added with a gesture toward the altar, "That it shall begin there."

Something was nagging on the edges of Kalli's memory. She just nodded, however, and cautiously went to approach the vicinity slowly, mindful of what happened when Dolen entered.

"They merely watch now, Kalli May," Dolen assured steadily, though he did hesitate briefly upon crossing the threshold once more.

After the momentary hesitation he crossed back to the dais and examined it carefully, frowning thoughtfully at the delicate latticework of crystal that covered it. Kalli went up to it as well and peered at it intently, scratching her head for a moment as she looked. Dolen crouched beside the ornately decorated altar, gently tracing one of the thicker lines from the floor all the way along to the top where it ended in one of the four spires.

"It appears that power should flow through these patterns, but there is nothing for it to flow _to_ ," Dolen observed.

Kalli peered at it for a long moment, mumbling something again about hating puzzles, rolled her eyes a little and pulled the box out of her pocket. "Okay, that's not a hunch, that's just a wild guess. Damned if I know what else the thing is for, though." Because, you know, you should always pick up random odd things you don't know what they're for, because they'll be important later.

Dolen looked at her strangely at the comment, the object she produced making no immediate connection to him. "A wild guess?"

Kalli sniggered. "Went to great trouble to get this thing," she commented. "Had to figure out some obscure riddles written in ... well, apparently, the language the El'dari on Lezaria spoke a hundred thousand years ago."

"The ways of the Farseer," Dolen replied quietly, "Are far-reaching indeed, and perhaps the time is not so important when dealing with matters which span the universe entire." He shook his head, considering the object, then motions to the four crystals forming a 'claw'. "Tis as well to try as not, Kalli May."

Kalli took the cube and reached over with it to try to put it in place. The seemingly meaningless depressions in the device didn't seem so random in context, at any rate.

There was a violent reaction as the cube was placed between the crystalline claws, light flaring brilliantly from it and coursing down through the latticework like molten fire. A resounding thrum is heard in the air as a sourceless light appears and reveals the room fully, the glyphs indeed running from floor to tip as might have originally been suspected. Were Dolen to examine it further, he would recognize the history of the race, not merely of this place but in _all_ of the places where the blood had flowed and spilt over all times. That examination did not occur, however, as a new archway irises opened in the formerly seamless wall opposite their entry... and the way behind them closed.

Kalli stared wordlessly as the changes occurred, then looked to the device again and the doors. She finally declared, "I feel like a cliche."

Then she strode purposefully toward the new door. Kalli, at least, didn't seem to have the least bit of concern about being stuck here or being unable to find a way out. She had clearly played far too many video games and watched way too many movies.

"Not so much cliche," Dolen muttered, looking around before following her, "As perhaps expected in this time and place."

He would meditate on the concept of fate and predetermination later, much later. Once more the path continued as before, the light from above dimming gradually as it descended and the walls changed abruptly from the smooth metallic sheen of El'dari construction to rough hewn stone. The passage also began to grow warmer, the heat seeming to flow from further ahead of them and a faint red glow seeping into the darkness. The source of both became immediately clear as they reached the end of the passage and it opened into a huge natural cavern, the ground ahead split irregularly by molten flows. Once more, an altar waited within, of much darker and jagged appearance, a flaming basin at its center.

Kalli definitely _refrained_ from making a Tolkien comment. She gave the immediate vicinity a good look-over and commented, "Well. Now what?" She scratched her chin.

Dolen did not immediately answer, instead walking into the cavern and leaping lightly across one glowing hot river to stand near the altar. It appeared to be hewn of obsidian, black and sharp, and he looked back at her with confusion. "I don't understand..." He turned back to the altar, running a palm with quiet reverence across the smoothly planed top and stopping at the sharp spines which surrounded the basin of flame.

Kalli frowned a bit, likewise hopping over by it and giving it a good look. "I don't have any clues this time, sorry," Kalli said helplessly.

"I do," he murmured quietly, almost lost in the near-living, breathing sounds of the volcanic hall. "There is no Furnace," he continued, removing a gauntlet of his armor with ceremonial formality and laying it gently aside, "But I readily recognize the Chalice." Reaching for one of the spines, blood wells as the sharp volcanic glass slices easily through flesh, and he paused to look at her with a melancholy smile. "If this is as it has been, then you shall leave this place and I shall not, Kalli May. May your Gods watch over you, as we know ours to."

Turning back to his regard of the flame, he thrust his bloodied left hand into it, hissing in pain as it seared the wound. The sound was lost, however, as a molten river on the far side erupted, dark stone thrusting upward from within with a visage of nightmare carved into it.

Kalli was fairly speechless, but certainly hoped that her gods aren't watching over her, considering that she abandoned them and despised them. She had to wonder briefly, as she had on more than one occasion, if there _were_ any gods that didn't suck.

Dolen viewed the rising rock dispassionately, drawing his hand back from the flame and retrieving his gauntlet with equal ceremony to return it to its place. "And so, the Furnace," he said softly, the conviction of his upbringing allowing for no doubt or question as to what such might be doing here, only that it was his fate.

He circled the altar silently and crossed to the hideous sculpture with an easy pace. It was a door, the fact made clear as the face split evenly in half to reveal a passage which went beyond the confines of the stone and into a glowing chamber somewhere within.

Kalli realized that she had even less idea on what the hell was going on here than she had originally thought. She peered into the passageway, quirking an eyebrow but not saying a word.

Dolen began to enter it when a sound, a clanging of monumental proportion emerged, as though the mightiest of gongs was struck in slow, sonorous rhythm, in total six times with each being blindingly painful not only to hear but in the deep throb that seems to pierce to their bones. He dropped to his knees, heedless of the normal process of the ceremony as the sound paralyzed and incapacitated him.

The first sound following the brazen outburst likely went unnoticed, but soon the vibrations of footfalls made themselves _felt_ , their source becoming apparent as a being seeming made of smouldering metal and molten rock emerged from further down the tunnel. Its eyes and mouth were as a furnace, and it carried a sword of considerable size in its right hand... while the left dripped with blood.

Kalli went, "What the ..." and proceeded to be extremely glad that she was not capable of fear as she thought any normal human would be pissing their pants at the moment. She stared motionlessly, fairly wide-eyed and agape.

Dolen's reaction was much the same raw-edged fear as hers, but there was another element to it as the being strode closer and stopped, towering above them... awe that went beyond imagining. There is no obeisance to this one, he knew, as surely as he knew in his soul that _this_ was no mere Avatar, and he stood quickly, drawing his sword and raising it in seeming defiance to the being.

"Who are you that dares waken Khaine?" the entity asked bluntly, not one to parley or dance about in his purpose, his attention from the Eldar to the human woman. "He I know, for the Guardians told me of his coming, even as they stirred my slumber, but you are unknown to me, child of Man."

Kalli stared for a moment, blinked, stopped standing there with her mouth hanging open, and finally found her voice. "I am Kalli May, of the Dancers on the Edge of Death."

It considered her words, searching through the memories which had been instilled within even as he slept, and he replied, "So be it. You seek purpose, and I now give it to you."

He reached the bloodied hand out above her, crimson drops falling to strike and seemingly vanish into her, though their mark would be known.

He turned to the Eldar and reached down to touch his chest. "Both of you are marked by Khaine, and know that this is curse as much as benediction. Just as I stride forward to battle my ancient foes will you do the same. No rest or peace will you find while there yet remain those who need your aid." He considered them a moment more, then said simply, "Begone."

As simply as that, and as quickly, they found themselves back in the clearing. No sign remained of the temple, vanished once more and likely until once again it might be needed.

Kalli stood blinking for several moments, disoriented at the sudden dislocation. "Holy shit," Kalli breathed, staring toward where the building had been.

Dolen was blankly oblivious to the world at first, a shudder of delayed reaction passing over him as he unsteadily sheathes his sword. "'Holy shit' indeed." He looked back at where the temple was and muttered, "Do you have any idea what we have unleashed upon the world, Kalli May? Any clue at all?"

"No, not really, but I'm sure you're going to tell me," Kalli said.

Dolen laughed wildly, the tension flowing from him and a wild, fey energy springing to light within him. "That was Khaine! Not an Avatar, but Khaine the Bloody-Handed God Himself!" He nearly bounded with glee, an unrealized racial weight lifting. "The Defiler thought him destroyed and shattered! Nothing left but pale shadows to snuff out as though candle flames." His exuberance expanded as he bounded over to grab her by the arms. "Chaos, as you might say, is _fucked_." He released his grasp and laughed once more.


	11. Battle Readiness

Kalli blinked a bit more and said, "Wait. Wait wait wait. That was a god?" She didn't bother waiting for a response. "You mean there are gods that _don't_ suck?" She appeared to be positively shocked by the concept.

Dolen began restraining his jubilance, though it would be some time before the knowledge of what had just happened and remaining _alive_ to see it fully wore off.

"Oh yes, Kalli May," he replied, "Very much indeed. That one has always stood against the darkness of our universe, even his 'death' walking in that purpose."

"Holy shit," Kalli said again.

Still bubbling with energy, Dolen nodded. "Indeed!" He fell strangely silent for a moment, looking at her speculatively, then continued somewhat more reservedly, "You do realize what one part of this means, I would hope." He touched the still glistening reminder of Khaine's 'benediction' at his chest.

Kalli looked over at him, raising an eyebrow, and glanced at herself self-consciously. "To an extent. I think," she murmured.

"Perhaps," Dolen replied, grinning, "But I do not believe you foresee what it shall mean to those of my blood. You are, to all intents and purpose through his blessing, one of his children. Any El'dari with the temerity to deny that association will risk facing his real and undeniable wrath." He trailed off, allowing that to sink in. "Your past sins are washed away in that, Kalli May, so far as any of us may say."

Kalli looked at the ground thoughtfully, but she hardly seemed about to complain. If anything, she almost seemed as elated as Dolen. Well, almost. For the longest time, she hadn't believed the gods even existed, for all her failed attempts at getting the attention of the Nameless Ones.

Dolen chuckled lightly, and offers a politely formal bow, "Welcome, Kalli May, to one of the oldest and oft-frustrating families known in this universe or any other."

Kalli grinned broadly at him, then glanced over to where the building had been again. "I think we're done here, then?" she said.

Dolen considered it for a moment, then shrugged, reserve still greatly reduced, "It would appear so, though perhaps it might be within reason to visit the human settlement I detected along the way. They may well be merely seeking isolation, yet there are forever instances of those stranded by harsher means. It costs us nothing to ask."

Kalli gave a nod, and turned to head back over toward the ships again. Dolen allowed the surge of energy to quicken his pace upon their return, settling into a fleet, ground-eating lope that had forever annoyed the hell out of their opponents. The distance was quickly traversed and he brought the smaller El'dari craft humming lightly to life. Kalli hopped into her own ship and took off, circling around the planet through the atmosphere toward where the settlement had been spotted earlier.

"Pass slowly overhead, Kalli May," Dolen relayed over the comm. "That may well give some indication as to their status, whether they flee into hiding or merely gaze upward in hostility."

Kalli brought the ship overhead, peering down at the humans on the ground. They, however, didn't run scattering or look for weapons, instead waving up at them in a friendly manner.

"Perhaps settlers after all," Dolen mused aloud. "Yet no harm in the asking, considering the exceedingly remote locale."

Of course, in the scheme of things, it would be his luck to encounter a cult of kill-crazed cultists seeking to lure prey into an insidious trap. He did, however, proceed to land and disembark. Paranoia could only go _so_ far, after all. Kalli did likewise and approached the settlement.

The people therein appeared to be primarily interested, however, in trading and bartering with hand-crafted hemp clothing, colored beads, and other "interesting" products. They seemed to be very mellow and didn't bat an eye at random people just showing up like that in craft they didn't recognize. Dolen remained neutrally polite to the locals, disentangling himself with as little fuss as possible and avoiding acquiring trinkets or souvenirs.

"I believe that things are much as you suspected, Kalli May," he murmured in passing back toward his ship. "Though I shall need investigate the terms you used for such."

"Hippies," Kalli said quietly, after politely giving them a pizza which distracted them enough to allow them to make their escape. "They're called hippies."

Glancing back to the thankfully receding and again uninterested humans, he quirked a brow and looked back to her. "Their physical template did not seem sufficiently beyond the norm for such a term to be prevalent...."

"What?" Kalli said in confusion. "Oh, a 'hippie' is more of an occupation than a race, really. Sort of." She peered back at them and popped open the hatch of her ship again.

Dolen stopped by his own craft and tapped into the node briefly, setting subroutines into motion before sealing it and striding back to the Darknova. He popped the hatch and climbed in as the engines whined to life, closing it behind him and moving to sit in a cockpit seat with a exasperated sigh.

"And they say _we_ are enigmatic?" Dolen commented.

Kalli chuckled softly. "You don't know the half of it." She settled herself back into the pilot's seat of her ship and took off, heading up out of the atmosphere again.

The other craft rose and followed after within the narrow parameters which had been set into the node. "One referential calamity after another," Dolen complained with a chuckle, glancing aside at her. "Tis not merely language, but the incomprehensible uses your people put it to. Amazing that you have managed to not descend into gibbering by this point."

Kalli set her ship to fly off. "Don't ever visit the Vrat District of planet Toronto, then. Their local slang seems to change every week. So, where to next, do you suppose?" She pondered thoughtfully.

Dolen snorted at the idea, as he could only imagine the utter confusion such a place would instill in him, not to mention its residents. He set it aside though at her question, considering it as well.

"I would think it wise to speak of what has occurred to no one, lest the Foul Gods hear of it and react accordingly. Beyond that, I am put in mind to remember what He commanded us with the mark. Whence would you say the greatest need lies within your sphere of knowledge, Kalli May? Turning to one such point and seeking to disrupt the plans of Chaos's minions would serve well, I should think, even if in minor matters."

He remembered her speaking of the Karzan core systems and the likelihood of what was happening there, pondering possible courses of action.

Kalli mused pensively for a moment. "Attempting to take on the bulk of the Black Fleet by ourselves would be foolhardy at best. I've a mind to head to the more remote rebel bases and try to contact them in hopes that they have not yet been corrupted by the taint of Chaos."

"Though my spirit may soar at the moment, rest assured that I am not so far lost to sense as to consider that fleet a possible choice of target," Dolen replied. "Seeking out such scattered remnants, and perhaps acting as a conduit of dialog between them would surely be of benefit, at least in longer terms."

"Setting a course for Omicron Station," Kalli said. She punched in the coordinates and opened a wormhole to that location, and headed inside.

Dolen relaxed as the energies of translation and the Warp enfolded them, content yet again to wait for the passage of time. Largely content, at any rate, as he grimaced and removed the left gauntlet of his armor in several pieces to lightly flex and probe the raggedly scarred palm.

"I would surmise that I am the first to gain such a scar and live to speak of it," he said quietly.

"Omicron isn't too far from here," Kalli commented. "ETA one hour." She leaned back in the chair and stretched a bit.

"Are there other likely stations in the vicinity which might be considered after?" Dolen asked, "Provided we find no sign of massive Chaos infestation, at any rate."

"Not in the immediate area at any rate," Kalli replied. "We're pretty far out on the fringes of the galaxy out here. Even the rebels tend not to come out quite this far often."

Replacing the gauntlet, Dolen nodded crisply. "As likely a place to begin as any, though reasons could be offered to argue both for and against the probability of Chaos presence. I find myself somewhat restrained in leaping readily to conclusions, in recent times."

"As well a place to start as any, since we're already out here, though," Kalli commented.

"Precisely," Dolen agreed readily, "And a suitably remote location to rally forces should it be clear and needful." He stretched out, his continuing experience among the odd races and the humans beginning to show as he relaxed.

So, after around an hour, they came out of hyperspace again into a rather dull system. There was no real innate defenses about the place, aside from the fact that there was absolutely nothing here of interest, just a few dead rocks in space, planets that didn't even have any real resources on them, or anything. The station was in orbit of an orangish gas giant. It was rather like a mall in the middle of a depopulated suburb that had never actually seen zombies in months.

Examining the sensor data, Dolen remarked, "One might readily see why this system is wanted by none save a straggling group of rebels. Tis as bland and unappealing as one could possibly wish for in terms of a base."

As they approached the station, they heard a yawn over the comm as the communications officer woke up from a nap by the beeping of his sensors. "Approaching vessels, please identify yourselves."

Dolen looked at Kalli with bemusement and keyed the comm, "This is the Karzan craft Darknova, recently come from Epsilon base, seeking permission to land and make contact with those of your faction."

"Proceed to docking bay A. Welcome to Omicron Station. Please enjoy your stay."

Dolen disengaged the commlink with a flick, chuckling lightly. "To all immediate appearances, it would seem that this is indeed a bastion of serenity in a galaxy boiling with turmoil." Such appearances could be deceiving, he knew, and he would not make the error of taking the assumption for granted.

Kalli chuckled softly and headed in for a landing in docking bay A. Dolen rose with languid ease, giving the scarlet stain on his armor a momentary look before shrugging helplessly. He would consider investigating whether it might be removed later, but the faintly avian symbol did not distress him greatly.

"Let us go forth and slay Chaos!" he said facetiously, making his way from the ship and taking a moment outside to ascertain the safe arrival of the slaved Phoenix.

There were some people working in the docking bay as they arrive, making some modifications to a couple ships, some upgrades and repairs. Nobody seemed to much notice or care about their arrival. Kalli chuckled softly and headed out into the station.

"It would seem that all energy production is dedicated to system requirements, and not drained away by their personnel," Dolen remarked dryly, settling into an easy walk beside her with hands clasped behind his back.

The place was considerably quieter and calmer than the havoc around Epsilon Station, at any rate. Smugglers and pirates didn't generally bother coming this far out to escape from authorities. There were some researchers working on medical and technological advancements in the relative peace and quiet offered by the station, and others training and practicing with weapons and things. In comparison to recent encounters, this place was incredibly serene, the image of Epsilon and its near frantic activity failing miserably to superimpose itself even in the mind's eye.

"They are at least industrious," Dolen commented, though whether that industry was exported to other domains or factions was as yet unknown.

Kalli headed off toward what she thought was the administration section of the base. "Yeah... Old Death Dancers come here to retire," Kalli commented wryly. "Or at least come here claiming they're retiring, getting bored after a couple months, and going off to fight again."

"I could readily see that," Dolen agreed, even the stilled hush of Iyanden having seemed more lifelike in many ways. "The long training of your order would seem contrary to such idle means, even in declining age."

They came to a large office adorned with potted plants and carpeting. There was a secretary at a desk poking at a terminal and rambling over the comm about the latest fashions on the Toronto southern hemisphere. Apparently, paisley was coming back into style again.

The secretary glanced up at them and said, "Sorry, Faye, I'll ring you again later. I've got a couple live ones here that look like they'll shoot me if I don't shut up." She flipped off the comm and looked up at them and said, "How can I help you?"

Dolen glanced aside to Kalli at the woman's joke, nearly tempted to persuade her of the truth of the jest, yet refrained through a firm grasp at the straws of reserve and discipline.

"Greetings," he replied politely instead. "We have come recently of Epsilon station, having addressed an intrusion by Chaos there. Currently, we are surveying and finding what we may which might still remain free of such taint." He pauses, nearly sighing at the blankly attentive expression of the reception, and continued simply. "If possible, we would like to speak with someone of authority here, to most efficiently evaluate this station's status."

"Oh, of course," the secretary said. "Everyone always wants to speak to the commander, and nobody ever wants to speak with me. Well, not really. I'm sure he'll be glad for the activity. I'll ring him up. Head on in anytime." She gestured vaguely over to a hallway.

Dolen inclined his head in the briefest of acknowledgements to the woman and turned to follow the indicated direction. He waited until they were outside likely hearing distance and murmured quietly enough that Kalli's enhanced hearing was needed to hear him, "One is amazed that such a font of wisdom and wit is not sought out from those the galaxy wide."

Kalli chuckled faintly and looked to the door marked "Commander Keane", and did not care to vocalize the obvious assumption that this is probably the place. She opened the door and headed inside. The commander was a middle-aged balding man more accustomed to a Death Dancer outfit than a suit, and preferred to continue wearing the same even if he remained more in an office these days than a spaceship. He beamed at them as they came in.

"Welcome, welcome, please make yourself at home, sit, sit!"

Dolen examined the man with calm approval, the evidence of fitness and vigor even at an age beyond prime something to be commended. The uniform did not go unnoticed, of course, and he placed another mark in that organization's favor.

"Greetings, Commander," Dolen replied, crisply polite, addressing another warrior. He did not move to avail himself of a seat instead settling into a casual attention. "I am Dolen Ista," he offered the abbreviated form of his name, then gestured with a glance to Kalli, "This one is likely well-known to you as another of your order. Kalli May."

"Ah, yes," Keane said. "The great Kalli May. I am honored to make you acquaintance. But, I do not believe you have come all the way out here simply for tea and cookies. What trouble in the core worlds brings you to the edges of the galaxy?"

Straight, to the point, and perceptive, the more he encountered the Dancers the greater respect Dolen gained for them. "In truth," he replied, "We are indeed not upon a casual visit, instead beginning a survey of what assets may yet remain free of the Chaos taint which has been unleashed wholesale in this galaxy."

Keane's expression hardened, and he nodded stiffly. "We have heard rumor of the darkness which seeks to consume those in other parts of the galaxy. We have not yet, however, been touched by it so far out here ourselves. The small envoy that came here to spread the 'good news' of these dark gods was killed rather quickly."

"Excellent news indeed," Dolen replied with energy, then cautioned, "You may also wish to be watchful of the spread of the followers of the Karzan's older Gods as well, as there is sufficient evidence that they may well have been... subverted by the Foul Ones. It would not be uncommon to see them work through other means, if needful."

"We have no Urians aboard this station," the commander said. "I like their old stench as little as the new stench of this 'Chaos'." He spat.

"It may not only be that faction to bring rise to danger, I fear," Dolen replied. "Other avenues would be equally appealing and considerably more subtle in approach. The warning should serve you well, as you have already displayed commendable vigilance," he finished in sincere compliment.

Keane bowed his head to him slightly and said, "We are watchful of all who come through this system. Even if it may not seem like it sometimes," he said with a smirk.

Dolen chuckled lightly, tilting his head in a minimal shrug. "In this place, it surprises me only that you have manage to remain so vigilant in the face of such chaos inherent to the system, much less address the pressing concern of intrusion. That said, may we rely upon this station in event of need? And if so, what resources may be available?"

"Certainly," Commander Keane said. "We may not have great resources here, but we are self-sufficient, and have limited supplies of weapons and parts for repairs and the like which have been redirected here from elsewhere."

"Your greatest resource," Dolen countered mildly, "may indeed be your very lack of interest to most, the solitude of your location serving well indeed if used properly in days to come. As we pass from station to station, would you have us relay any messages or requests on your behalf?"

"Not especially, no." Keane shook his head. "We can always use more supplies, but I'll not trouble you with such trivialities. We make do with what we have."

Dolen nodded briefly, "Fair enough. With your permission, I think it would serve us well to explore the station for a day and gain a further understanding of its capabilities and perhaps needs. If aught else comes to mind in regards to requirements, particularly in light of the possibility of acting as a rear staging area, then we shall be at your service until then."

"Be my guests, feel free," Keane said with a gesture.

Dolen offered a polite bow, though he has a momentary inclination to bestow a salute from one warrior to another. "Many thanks, Commander." He departed without further ceremony or wasting of the man's time, murmuring in quiet approval, "Your order continues to grow in my estimation, Kalli May."

Kalli headed out along with him and grinned a bit at him. "They have their moments."

The next span of time was readily passed in mere examination of the workings of the station, boring perhaps, but useful to the purpose of gathering as complete an intelligence array as possible. The station was quiet and somber, but tense. They were not completely unaware of the things that have been happening elsewhere. Some might be here to hide or get away from the troubles in the core worlds, but the Death Dancers here were ready to fight. If any should try to attack this system, there was no doubt they'd fly out to destroy them, or hold them off long enough to evacuate the civilians if they could not.

The first impression of laziness was quickly dispelled in the broader perspective, and Dolen was quite respectful of the level of readiness they maintain even with such limited resources. The organization was, naturally, not without its laggard elements but that was only to be expected in diverse civilian populations. He maintained a running list of details which he would note down later for perusal.

It was a wonder that they'd managed to build this station at all, for the little natural resources available in this system. Every scrap they could dig from the rocks around here appeared to have gone directly to the station. They managed to create a self-sustaining ecosystem with specially engineered plants and the like as well.

Dolen, by nature, dragged his heels just a bit throughout the examination of the botanical examination, and mused to himself that he should look at importing a plant or two from one of the El'dari gardens. The investigation overall impressed him, and he listened with interest to those willing to speak of their work, taking particular note of any names mentioned repeatedly in terms of helpfulness or ingenuity.

There were, perhaps unsurprisingly, actually a few El'dari aboard this station as well, as there generally seem to be around most bases of any importance at all. The first sighting of one such did come as somewhat of a surprise to Dolen, considering the remote location of the base, but then tracing their route backward he was forced to wonder just how much they might have been charged with observing. Passing one such, he did not fail to notice a faint sharpening of attention to the newcomers among their numbers. Interesting indeed. He would seek one such out before leaving, he decided.

Kalli, after munching on a bit of pizza and chatting with people a bit, was updating herself on the situation elsewhere, and how Asura was managing. Alpha continued to sit in the back of the ship, apparently meditating. Or perhaps just wasting time on the cybernet playing video games.

Having largely examined as much of the station as he'd assigned to himself, trusting Kalli to be equally thorough in the rest, Dolen began to return to the docking bay, the stated day nearing its end. He halted in his progress, however, upon seeing one of the El'dari entering what was likely a dining hall, and instead detoured within to speak with them. Kalli peeled apples with her lightsaber.

The El'dari did not seem surprised to see Dolen, any more than he would have been in the reverse, and the two settled in a corner to converse in low tones in a fashion that would surely confuse any listener were they to be overheard and the language understood. Supposition was eventually confirmed regarding their purpose, but not until the El'dari native's own curiosity was tended to as to the nature of their own presence.

Dolen was cryptic in his revelations, leaving the other to draw what assumptions they might of the fresh design at his chest. Their narrowed, thoughtful expression led him to believe that a conclusion has been reached and that the information would shortly wend its way to a Farseer who likely already knew of its import. Seeming nothing more than enigmatic pleasantry, the two parted in amiable fashion.

Each content that they had learned what they had sought from the other, Dolen heading for the docking bay once more as the El'dari moved deeper into the station.

Kalli was currently amusing herself with one thing or another. Probably assaulting innocent food products. Dolen stopped to speak with the cargomaster upon entering the bay, checking to see if any messages had been left for them from the station commander, but finding none he checked in on the Darknova to find Kalli lounging about indolently.

"Ready to go?" he asked from the hatchway. "All that may be done here for now has been."

"Anytime," she said, popping a bit of apple in her mouth and cleaning up.

Dolen nodded in acknowledgement and tosses an informal salute, then vanished from the hatch to return to his own craft. The orientation and warmup sequences were quick enough, and he opened the commlink, "Ready when you are, Kalli May. Whence next?"

Kalli powered up the ship and went to sail out of the docking bay. "Hmm. Omega station, perhaps?"

Dolen brought the smaller craft swooping over the Darknova, then settled sharply into its shadow, the interface and controls responding even better than those he had known before. "So long as we skip none along the way, it matters little the order, I should think," he replied, his familiarity with the systems involved restricted to the spatial maps stored in the node.

She opened the wormhole and headed inside, and said, "ETA five hours," and settled into doing that.

Settling into the now-familiar routine, Dolen guided his craft through the wormhole gate and into the Warp beyond in the Darknova's wake. "Five hours?" he murmured thoughtfully, transferring over once again to the cockpit of the Darknova, "What of another movie, Kalli May?"

Her agreement was unsurprising and it was only a few minutes more before a title was decided on and they settled in.


	12. Party's Over

They arrived in another remote system. This one was a bit more notable and dangerous than the last one, with relatively high levels of radiation, although not nearly as high as the Epsilon system. Dolen throttled the forward motion of his craft back as they depart the wormhole, the influx of warnings prioritized by the node pinging at the edges of his consciousness.

"Another lovely day for a flight," he commented blandly. "Let us see how alert are the sentries and precise their instruments."

With that, he edged the engines upward once more and darts ahead, angling toward the coordinates she'd provided for the base itself. As they approach, nobody even stopped to notice them or demand their identification. Kalli did not really take this as a good sign.

Nary a sign of challenge, Dolen would agree completely with her assessment were he not already bringing the weapon systems aboard his fighter to full readiness from standby, the faint shimmer of shielding growing subtly brighter as power surged into them.

"A gate with no guardians?" he inquired over the commlink, "A closer sweep may be in order."

Kalli frowned a bit. "There's lifesigns aboard, alright. Somebody's asleep at the helm, I guess."

Dolen brought the fleet ship across the ecliptic of the station's orbit and swept back around, seeking signs of damage or other craft hiding within sensor shadows. At last he directed a signal to the station itself, requesting landing clearance and instructions.

After a couple minutes, somebody made it to a comm. "Arrr," said a drunken voice. "Come on aboard, mateys, ya'll're welcome. We've got rum aplenty, too!"

Dolen didn't even acknowledge the transmission, cutting contact and re-establishing the link to the Darknova. "You have a greater understanding of human colloquialisms, Kalli May," he said, "Does that sound as strange to you as to my own ears?"

"They're pirates," Kalli replied. "And reveling in that fact."

"Pirates..." Dolen shook his head and snorted disdainfully. "I might have known, though such oddities of speech are not common to such as I've encountered before. Scanning now for what may be gathered of the structural layout as well as number of living creatures aboard."

A course of action could be decided with a little more information. There were approximately six hundred aboard this station. There was a large group of them partying on one deck.

Dolen considered the situation carefully as he studied the displayed results of the scan, his voice grim as he opened the commlink once more. "I am loath to leave a band of brigands in possession of this place, particularly as there may yet be those originally stationed here held captive. It is also possible that the brigands inhabited some time ago, and the effort would be useless. Your assessment, Kalli May?"

"It's probably been here for some time. I don't know. They might have built it. They might not have. Not everyone in the rebellion is a noble, upstanding warrior. What do you suggest?"

Dolen did not immediately respond, considering the implications and likelihood that it was as she said, but a downward glance at the scarlet still upon his armor stiffens resolve.

"We cannot idly stand by," he replied firmly, "While the scum of the universe work their evil. So have we been charged, so it must be done. We also know not whether they hold innocence in their grasp, thus a straightforward approach of reducing the station to a wreck is not wholly feasible." He fell silent in thought for a moment, a wicked grin appearing as a thought emerged. "They did invite us to join their revelry, I might suggest we do so. Neither of us are without defense, after all."

"Let's get a closer look, then," Kalli said, heading in to dock at the station.

Dolen idly examined his armor as they settled into the dock, the charring left by the recent exploration and the mark actually suiting it quite well to pass better than the original bright perfection it had been. He examined the bay closely before disembarking, fully armed.

Kalli climbed out of the ship and looked over at him with a wry smirk. There wasn't anyone else in the docking bay at the moment.

Dolen shook his head, not sure whether to be disgusted or relieved at the utter lack of security in the place. "Shall we look for our gracious hosts?" he asked sardonically, "If the sensory data is indeed accurate, it would appear that we might well use their own station to seal them happily away in their revelry."

Kalli chuckled and nodded to him, heading down the corridor toward where the scans indicated they were at.

After coming through several fairly empty corridors, they reached the large rec room in which a sizeable amount of the people aboard the station were gathered. It was not too difficult to find, judging by the cacophonous "music" that sounded like incoherent screaming, dying cats, and other strange sounds intermixed together that could be heard several corridors away. The smell of alcohol, smoke, and bodily excretions was heavy in the air.

The room was packed with various species, primarily humans although there were some others represented, in various states of drunkenness and nudity. With an orgy going on in the center of the room, some others along the side were using drugs, and a cloud of thick pink smoke filled one corner.

Near the other exits to the room, there were pirates examining doubtless stolen gems and jewelry and other valuables. Kalli twitched slightly and her hands go toward her weapons as she saw the crowd inside the room.

Dolen was not wholly convinced that approaching them openly was the wisest course, all considered, but maintained thoughtful silence upon their journey, watchful of all things around them. The scene which unfolded before them, the evident debauchery, was quite sufficient to stir the inner revulsion learned from long years of fighting Chaos, in particular the excesses of Slaanesh. It was contrary to the self-discipline the Eldar had enforced within themselves in the aftermath of the Fall, and seeing it so flagrantly rampant was... disturbing.

He drew back in the doorway, hissing lightly as his eyes narrowed, and he looked aside to Kalli as he quietly asked, "Proceed to cleanse, or seek more covert means?"

Kalli's weapons were already in her hands. The distracted "pirates" didn't really seem to notice them just yet. Kalli murmured, "These aren't just any pirates. They're Euphorians."

One of them finally noticed the two of them and looked over, and said, "Oi! Lookie boys, we gots ourselves a pointy-ears and a Dancer chick. Come dance for us, girlie!" He reached over to grab her, and she extended her lightsaber and cut off his arm in one swift motion.

Dolen had not been so foolhardy as to leave without being fully armed, his own reaction a mere fraction behind hers as the El'dari rifle swept to target the offender and lanced out to strike him. The reek of charred flesh was not a distant memory to him, and he did not falter in the least as the weapon swept back to those nearest to them.

"I would not make the mistake of so much as twitching, were I you," Dolen warned.

With a well-aimed shot of her blaster, Kalli took out the speakers and shut off the deafening noise.

The pirate shouted, "Arrr! What did you go and do that for, ya little bitch? Get 'em, boys! We'll show 'em how to have a good time, won't we?"

Kalli proceeded to chop off his head.

Dolen shrugged inwardly without any real concern, the idea of destroying the spawn of Chaos, whether their service was intentional or not, being completely agreeable to him. He shifted his stance for ease of traverse and range of motion, the rifle licking out in a deadly arc.

"Not the most friendly of greetings," he offered with grim flippancy, "But it shall suffice." Only the arc containing Kalli was immune to his wrath, left to her talents.

The Euphorians, annoyed at the interruption, start scrambling for weapons, some of them without bothering to find their pants first. Kalli opened fire with her blaster, and slashed apart with her lightsaber any that come too close. By the time the surprised pirates had located their weapons and started shooting back, a good many of them were already dead.

Confusion to the enemy, a time-honored tactic which addressed an undisciplined horde such as this one all too well. Dolen let the rifle drop, the pistol and sleek blade whipping from their holders as he leapt into their midst. It courted injury, but the greater blood would flow from their enemies at their own weapons and his own than what they would earn in return. As always, he sang lightly to himself as the battle entered the furnace's heart, staving away the urges of the Foul God of war and paying homage to their patron.

A large man tried to sneak up behind Dolen and hit him with a giant dildo. Kalli hardly spared a moment to shoot him down casually. She proceeded to twist and dodge to avoid incoming attacks against her, and cut a swath through the crowd with her lightsaber.

She came up in front of the smoking man, said, "Drugs are bad for you!" and shot him in the face.

The movement at his back was not unnoticed, and Dolen nodded sharp thanks which likely went unnoticed in the general melee. One pirate, slower to rise from the orgy than others, would require reconstructive surgery as a shod boot smashed into her face an used the soft stance as a leaping point, clearing him of a gaggle that had thought to rush in and grapple. Their misfortune at missing was short lived, though, as the sword sliced and the pistol charred what the blade left behind.

A couple of the pirates managed to flee the scene through the other exits in the melee, but after several minutes, most of them were laying on the floor, dead and wounded badly. Kalli glanced across the now-quiet room toward Dolen, making sure there weren't any laying around waiting to spring at them suddenly.

Dolen looked around as the final moving pirates are downed, returning Kalli's look with a nod. "Well done, now shall we seal the doors and hunt down those which fled or else remain lest they seek more... practical means of retaliation."

Mindful of their location aboard a spaceborne craft, he snapped his helm into place and marched over to seal one door with the crude expedient of an energy beam. Kalli did likewise and proceeded to head off to search for any pirates that didn't happen to be taking part in the revelry here, or prisoners to rescue.

"I shall search out the command center," Dolen said in parting, "Engineering spaces may be wise to secure as well if you should find them."

With that, he trotted in the opposite direction, watchful for any activity as he progressed in a logical direction for what he sought. The corridors were uninhabited for the greater part of the journey, unsurprising considering the extent of the 'festivities' which they had found to be underway.

He slowed as he neared a hatchway that all signs indicated was likely his destination, a lone female pirate 'standing' guard looked blearily up and then staggered unevenly to her feet. "Awww, the bloody bastids didn't forge' abou' me," she cooed in a drunken slur. "They e'en sen' a big presen', all wrap'd up, too." 

Were she less inebriated, her approach would likely draw the attention of any male within the sector, even so affected sufficing well at a near seductive saunter. Dolen watched her for a moment, something seeming out of place and feeling no great concern in face of the curiosity, but changed his mind as she licked her lips and revealed a tongue with a sting at its tip. One of Chaos's little 'gifts' to devotees of the flesh.

He wasted no more time, instead gunning the abomination down and making sure it wouldn't stand again before stepping past and into the deserted command center.

Kalli made her way through the station, gunning down some more drunken fools in the engineering section and securing the area, password-sealing the doors to prevent anyone else from wandering in and tampering. She likewise headed to the weapons storage lockers and cleaned them out, shoving their weapons into her bag of holding "just in case".

The intricacies of the equipment might well be beyond him at the moment, but enough could be gathered from his experience with the human technology to find what he needed here. Dolen sealed off certain sections of the base, first those which show no signs of life and then those which pose a possibility of escape. None of the scum would survive this, he vowed.

The final section sealed was listed as a detention center on the station maps, and he input a code that they might gain access later and tend to any who might yet remain prisoner there. That done, he activates the on-board sensors and activate his helmet commlink, securing a line to Kalli.

"Two corridors up-station, Kalli May," he relayed the nearest targets, "Three moving away at speed." Time for the hunt.

"Roger," Kalli said, heading off at a brisk pace. They weren't fast enough for her, however, and were quickly gunned down and dispatched without incident. "Area secure. Heading for detention area," Kalli sent back at him.

Dolen relayed the code he'd set in place and, tapping at the sensor display, added, "It would seem our former hosts have much the same idea. You should find several of them along the way, one already attempting to bypass the entry security. Two others are even now battering at the far entry, but their luck shall doubtless be poor."

Kalli headed down that way and proceeded to shoot anything she saw that might be hostile.

Dolen explored the interface more closely, following her progress and adding updates as needful, but focusing on the control and anti-escape measures for the detention center. He entered her location and waited for the computer to identify and properly log her, then activated the perimeter defenses with a cold smile.

She heard the sound of heavy gunfire as she approached, but found the pirates quite, quite disabled as she reached the door and a turret 'sniffed' at her in silence.

Kalli headed in and tried to see what sort of folks they had locked up in here. She found primarily terrified women and children, huddling in the corners of the detention cells and wondering what would happen to them now. Kalli made sure there were no guards to interfere with her and looked in at them pitifully.

"Status of the detainees?" Dolen asked crisply through the secured commlink. "Provided the pirates did not simply incarcerate their own for the aberration of fine and upstanding conduct, the area will need be secured until the remainder of the brigands is routed out."

Kalli replied, "They're scared, some of them look hurt, but nothing too serious as far as I can tell. I hate to think what they've been doing to them..."

"That is not something to envision, Kalli May," Dolen replied quietly, knowing full well that she has likely seen what such barbarians would do. "Disable their cell locks and give them access to the facilities. I will reseal the area behind and make certain that the defenses remain vigilant against potential hostage takers." He paused, then added, "And look within the security station, there is an override listed there which will allow the systems to employ lethal force. You may wish to release it, and dispose of those already stunned without."

"Roger that," Kalli replied, proceeding to take care of that, shoving thought of what might have happened to the poor prisoners out of her mind. "How many else are still aboard the station?"

"The greater bulk of hostile forces have already been eliminated," Dolen replied, searching for signs of life. "It would appear that the remainder are either oblivious in their private quarters, inebriated at their stations, or..." he trailed off thoughtfully, then added with a chill chuckle, "headed for the docking bay in hopes of escape. I believe the outlying survivors may be neutralized from here. The docking bay is yours."

"Excellent. I shall head over that way, then." She proceeded to do so to take care of business.

Isolating the remaining pirates was of little difficulty, though the facility was not so advanced as those aboard the Eyes of Truth. Most were dealt with using the simple expediency of opening the compartment to the vacuum of space or activating the emergency halon projects to smother imaginary fires and starve the air from their lungs, leaving only those in Kalli's path.

The fleeing pirates were ill prepared for Kalli's swift and silent attacks from behind as she proceeded to mop up the remainder of them. She peered about the area to make sure there weren't any others and tapped her wrist-comm again. "All clear here," she said. "Any others left?"

"It would appear that the remaining hostiles have met with unfortunate industrial accidents," Dolen replied dryly. "I will perform another sweep from here to be certain, but..." he fell silent as a red light flashed on a panel to one side, and continued with sudden grim demeanor. "If you are available, it might be advisable to make haste to the engineering sections. It would appear someone has recognized the untenable nature of their situation and manually overridden security protocols on the main power plant."

"Bah, how did they get past my password seal?" Kalli muttered, heading over that way with a roll of her eyes.

"In truth, I do not know," Dolen replied.

The crew were largely too besotted with their various entertainments to undertake the more vigorous approach he and Kalli had used upon Epsilon, so how? That question was equally puzzling to Kalli as she reached the main entry and found that it was, indeed, still sealed.

"They must have come in through the access shafts," Kalli muttered, punching in her password and going to take care of the issue, glad that she had at least the minimal amount of engineering knowledge required to keep her ship from blowing up and running relatively correctly long enough to get it back to a station.

The Euphorian had been one of the original escapees from the massacre, having turned and run as quickly as his legs could carry him as soon as it became even mildly apparent that they were in some seriously deep shit. Really should have watched where he was going, though, or gotten one of the assholes responsible for the problem in the first place to fix the damn thing, as a section of floor collapsed out from under him.

Unconsciousness had reigned for several minutes, having crashed and smashed through a dizzying array of obstacles until waking battered, bruised, and probably bleeding to death in the engineering section. Fuckin' Murphy! What the hell, though, if they wanted to wreck _his_ party, he was sure as hell gonna fuck with _theirs_! Sure, he was no hyperdrive engineer, but it didn't take one to set the core spinning into overload.

The job done, the pirate collapsed into semi-consciousness, dreaming of things best left unspoken.

Kalli didn't stop to boggle over the situation and just proceeded to get the situation under control without further ado. It was touch and go for a moment but she finally breathed a sigh of relief as she managed it. Then she shot the guy for good measure.

"Situation under control here," she said into her wrist-comm.

"That then, is that, Kalli May," Dolen replied. "And well done. I will see what may be found of the records here as to what has transpired in this place." He added quietly, "After disabling the detention center's security measures, naturally." That would not be a pleasant task to deal with, at all.

"I'll go see about putting 'First Aid 101' to use, then," Kalli said, heading back over in that general direction.

"Acknowledged," Dolen replied simply, perhaps with a hint of guilt, and turned to search through the station logs. It was not cowardice on his part, at least not entirely, for he simply was not well suited to deal with such a task... _'Any more than she?'_ his conscience mercilessly retorted, but he remained at the task for now.

Kalli proceeded to administer basic first aid to the injured prisoners as best as she could.

Dolen would leave the recovery of the dead from the void to those who would follow, the records showing the station had been thriving until a mere month before. Logs after the last panicked recording of the station commander were sporadic and less than utilitarian, in fact he skipped more than one which appeared to be nothing more than recordings of the pirate's chief and various liaisons.

He downloaded a copy of the stations former full roster for reference purposes, then turned away from the investigation with disgust. It was time and past to behold the pitiful few remnants of the station's personnel, not a single male among them if one boastful, drunken recording was to be believed, and he had no reason to discount it. He approached the detention center and paused outside to rap on the hatch to announce his arrival.

Kalli opened it, looking up from tending a young human boy who couldn't be more than ten years old. He was extremely quiet and scared to death even with his assurances that he was safe now and everything would be alright.

"Is there anything you require, Kalli May?" Dolen asked quietly, glancing only briefly at the child. It was perhaps a symptom of the disease infecting his origins, but he had seen entirely too much to be moved beyond a certain level of empathy. "Else I shall remain on guard for now," he added for the benefit of those nearby, then lowered his voice, "We shall need seek outside assistance for those who remain. In time."

Kalli said quietly, "I brought supplies down from what was left of the medical bay to deal with what I can. Their bodies will heal. I just wish I could heal their minds."

Dolen smiled briefly, "Do not despair, Kalli May, as I am certain that there are indeed those within this galaxy which may do just that. Even those among my blood with the inclination toward Seer powers are often capable of such. The soul will be healed in time, the body must live to see that opportunity." He looked once more into the bay, eyes shadowed, then back to her and admitted softly, "I wish that such powers were mine, but..."

"We do what we can," Kalli murmured. "They'd be a good deal worse off had we not come here. There's a saying among the Death Dancers... 'I am only one, but I am one. I cannot do everything but I can do something. I will not refuse to do the something I can do.'"

Dolen replied with a sigh and reached up to remove his helmet, stepping within to lay it on the security desk and following it with the gauntlets which would mildly impede slim fingered dexterity.

"You shame me with your wisdom and insight, Kalli May," he said with gentle humor. "Let us see their wounds tended as quickly as _we_ may, then."

Kalli gave a faint smile at him and continued, finishing up at some point after and standing up with a stretch. "I think we've done all we can here for the moment," she said to him.

Eldar and human physiology not being radically different, his ready experience of battlefield first aid suits well to the task, and he offered a soft encouragement to the wide-eyed teenager he had set as his last subject before turning away with a nod.

"Now to see all of them safely arranged until assistance may be summoned for them," he replied to Kalli, walking closer and lowering his voice. "Shall I go to seek, or you?"

Kalli nodded to him and produced a large pan pizza with peppers, pineapple, and pepperoni for the kids to cheer them up a tad.

Dolen returned the bits of armor to their rightful places, though leaving the helmet hanging at his waist to maintain a more 'natural' and 'friendly' appearance. Although, he mused, the safety of his weapon-bearing state likely meant more to these abused beings than anything else at the moment.

He shook his head, walking to the door, and said, "I will see if aught else may be gained of the command center for now. Call if I am needed."

Even as he did so, the kids were seeming more upbeat and cheerful, happily munching on the pizza and chatting about cartoons. Kalli blinked for a moment and rubbed her eyes in confusion.

Dolen chuckled softly at the invigorating effect such a simple thing as this pizza seemed capable of producing, though not truly surprising as the simple basics of life were often the things most needful in healing of all kinds. He left them to their meal and animation, removing the hint of the alien from the gathering.

Kalli stumbled out after him and mumbled, "Did I do something? What did I do?" She seemed extremely confused at the moment, and glanced back into the room at the happy kids.

Dolen turned back Kalli with a look of concern, and offered a hand to steady her. "What is amiss, Kalli May?" he asked quietly, not quite certain beyond a flicker of suspicion at a glancing sense he had felt shortly before but attributed to their changed emotional state.

"I'm not quite sure," Kalli said, frowning slightly.

Dolen studied her quietly, crouching to look up into her eyes with his own piercing green. "Mm," he murmured unhelpfully at first, then continued, "Weary? Perhaps clouded of thought and purpose?"

Kalli shook her head, "No, no." She sighed and headed off down the corridor. "That was weird. Oh well," she sighed. "I wonder what Alpha's doing."

"Go and see, Kalli May," Dolen replied thoughtfully, rising from his crouch and heading back to the command center.

Kalli headed back over toward the docking bay, still wondering about just what exactly happened back there. Kalli returned to the Darknova and checks on Alpha. Alpha was still there... doing whatever he'd been doing for the last several days. Probably watching old movies and listening to metal. Loudly.

"Alpha? Alpha? Oh, hey." She poked her head inside.

Dolen stopped by the command center briefly to access the records, downloaded a few for reference, then headed once more for the docking bay. Their last port of call would serve in that well, and he briefly reported his intent to the Darknova before departing in his craft.

Alpha waved, then shut off the screen. "Hola. So... how goes the... What exactly were you doing out there, anyway?"

"We were cleansing a Chaos cult aboard this station," Kalli told Alpha.

"Ah. Right." Alpha got up and stretched. "Well... I guess I should start being useful... Anything you want me to do?"

"Fortunately they didn't put up too much of a fight, being fairly well drunk."

Alpha snerked.

"That depends. You any good at healing?"

"Somewhat," Alpha said. "Unless we're talking surgery."

"Not really. There were some prisoners who were tortured and abused in other manners. Me and Dolen attended to them as we could, but it was little more than first aid."

Alpha nodded. "I can probably make do with just basic magic then. I'll do what I can."

She headed out and led him along to where the former prisoners were hanging out. They were a ragged bunch of women and children, but they were more cheerful than you'd expect considering their recent experiences and treatment.

Alpha went over to them and channeled Healing, trying to mend any busted bones and other things he could manage. It wasn't as shiny as an inborn or dedicated Healer, but at least they should be a tad more comfortable.

Alpha headed back over to Kalli. "I don't have the skill for anything really detailed... but they should be fine until they can see a real doctor. Which I would recommend anyway."

Kalli nodded to him. "Dolen went off to get help from the next station. Hopefully they should be able to handle it, but they won't be here for another ten to twelve hours at the least."

"Fun." Alpha looked around. "So... what's your take on everything?"

"What do you mean?"

Alpha made a vague sweeping motion with his hand. "This. Everything. The El'dari, the liberation of these people from Chaos. The whole deal. What's your point of view on it? What's going through your head?"

Kalli quoted again, "'I am only one, but I am one. I cannot do everything but I can do something. I will not refuse to do the something I can do.'"

Alpha hehed. "Everett. How appropriate."

"We may not have the numbers to take on the bulk of the Chaos fleet right now, but there is still much for us to do elsewhere."

"You're right, of course. It's just sometimes I look at this and see only how overwhelming it is."

"Two people killed over five hundred cultists here today."

"But can the three of us kill five million? Even with the few that were 'saved'..." Alpha shook his head. "No, you're right. I can't think that way at all."

Kalli left the kids again and meandered back toward the docking bay. "Something weird happened there earlier," Kalli murmured to Alpha. "I'm not too sure just what happened... I was wishing that I could heal their minds and souls from what was done to them, and then I felt something and ... something happened. And they were suddenly more cheerful..."

"'Something'?"

"Something. If I knew what I would have said."

Alpha nodded. "Maybe it was you."

"I was hoping you could answer that."

"I'm no expert on how the stuff works... I just know it does. But yeah... That's generally how it starts. You just want something to happen hard enough... and eventually you're able to do it."

"What do you mean?"

Alpha shrugged. "Like I said, I'm no expert. I'm just saying there's a possibility that some latent power of yours is surfacing."

"Perhaps," Kalli murmured, looking at the ground pensively.

Alpha smiled and put a hand warmly on her shoulder. "Hey... there's no reason to be uneasy about it. It is what it is. It's what you do with it, that counts. Hell... for all I know it could have been something from the outside doing it too."

"You know. This station is named Omega Station."

Alpha started a bit at that, his hand getting tense. His stomach dropped into his small intestine.

She came out into the gathering hall in which the pirates had been having their revelry. Hundreds of bodies were piled about the place, and the lingering stench of death, alcohol, blood, and drugs hung in the air.

"Ick.... Someone should clean this place up..."

"You're welcome to it if you want," Kalli said wryly.

Alpha chuckled. "I'm not that desperate for it..."

"I would suggest just waving your hand and vaporizing the bodies, but I remember what happened last time you tried that."

Alpha looked embarrassed. "Yeah... well... in my defense, I was kind of enraged at the time..."

Kalli chuckled softly, and stepped past the bodies back toward the docking bay.

Alpha followed. "So... what's the plan for right now? Waiting for Dolen to return?"

"We've got some work to do ourselves here in the meantime."

The return journey had been uneventful, giving time to tend to the needs of basic weapon and armor maintenance and quiet meditation before arrival. Commander Keane had responded with commendable alacrity and arranged for a relief ship in short order, once again finding Dolen returning to Omega Station in around half a day.

Kalli was glad to see their arrival and welcomed them aboard. Alpha greeted the newcomers.

Dolen settled his craft to dock neatly on the heels of the transport ship, debarking amidst the energetic bustle of the relief crew and staying as much out of their way as possible. His armor, of note, maintained the overall darker appearance it obtained in the temple, despite any maintenance to the contrary.

Stepping out of the path of a hurrying tech, he nodded to the two familiar faces in greeting. "How fare the survivors?"

"Better," Kalli said. "A good deal better than I'd expected at any rate."

"As good as they can be, under the current circumstance," Alpha said. "I'd prefer if we could get them real medical care..."

"Excellent," Dolen replied mildly, motioning to the support ship. "Commander Keane was most helpful, considering the limit of resources available. I do believe he may have done what was possible to attend to that detail."

Kalli gave a nod. "Hopefully we'll have taken care of that, then. We've purged this cult I believe."

"It would ease my paranoia considerably to do a full system sweep," Dolen responded. "Yet otherwise we may continue at your leisure. The sweep is something which I may attend quickly enough alone, if you wish further time to attend to other matters or concerns."

"No, I have nothing especially pressing to be doing at the moment," she said wryly, smirking at Alpha.

Alpha chuckled. "I agree with Dolen, actually."

Dolen offered a bow. "Then I shall be about it, while you decide where our next destination may lay. It will allow time to make certain we leave no Chaos element to return and prey further."

He returned to his ship and departed without further ado. Kalli was damned well not getting left behind. And it wasn't like glancing at a map and saying "X system is closest" was difficult.

Dolen arced the Phoenix, which he had been considering naming in old tradition, its course passing beyond immediate station range as he determines a search pattern, including the Darknova in the calculation and communicating it when they emerge. Kalli likewise made damned sure there weren't any remaining traces of Chaos in the immediate vicinity.

Finding no traces beyond the station, and having left none upon it, Dolen opened the commlink and asked simply, "Whence now then, Kalli May?"

"Theta next, I believe," Kalli replied.

"Very well, lead the way," Dolen replied. His own craft could travel there of its own volition, but did not function in quite the same manner in terms of opening a followable wormhole.

She set the coordinates and opened the wormhole and proceeded to fly into it. "ETA, four hours."

Settling the smaller craft into its accustomed niche 'above' the Darknova after entry, Dolen engaged the commlink, "I believe that Omega shall officially remain as 'unavailable' at this time. Hopefully greater luck shall find this Theta."

"Indeed. At least we've dealt with one infestation..." Kalli replied, leaning back in her chair and stretching. "All in all, a good day, I'd say."

"As you say," Dolen replied levelly, though not agreeing fully with the definition. That the infestation had been routed was indeed satisfactory, the consequences which remained behind... were less so.

Kalli scrolled through her list of movies and said to Alpha, "Anything you want to watch?"

Alpha shrugged. "Don't matter to me."

Dolen added over the comm that he had matters upon which he would seek to meditate and fell into silence for the remainder of the transfer.


	13. Quarantine Procedures

Dolen spent the first couple of hours of the journey to Theta engrossed in meditation, purging the faint reek of Chaos from his thoughts and memories and rearranging the patterns into more orderly fashion. That tended to, however, the projector was activated and he 'transferred' to the Darknova for a time.

Kalli was leaning back, relatively relaxed, and smiled at him as he appeared and gave a slight wave. She was apparently listening to Enya at the moment. Alpha was hanging out in the cockpit, but didn't really seem to be paying much attention.

Answering the gesture with a nod, Dolen tilted his head in appreciative attention to the musical selection. Certainly far better than many 'styles' he had since encountered, not terribly different from some forms that his blood found pleasing.

"Music to soothe?" he asked with quiet humor, settling back.

"I don't much like Glyphan music," Kalli commented. "I don't see how anyone can actually call that garbage 'music'."

Dolen offered a bemused smirk. "To each their own, I suppose, though I am doubtless influenced by the more melodious and stirring sagas of my line to judge certain styles worthwhile."

"Personally I would not be inclined to apply the term 'music' to the sound of a flushing toilet overlaid with the scream of a dying cat."

"Perhaps their homage to the Chaos force of music aficionados," Dolen suggested with a light laugh. "It would certainly seem to suit them well." He shakes his head, the amusement fading into thoughtfulness.

Kalli gave a faint smirk and said, "So how're you doing?"

"Well overall, Kalli May," Dolen replied. "Is there aught which might incline you to inquire? All is, as far as may be expected, going well."

The recent brush with Chaos infestation had indeed inspired some deeper thought, but not something he would easily divulge.

"I don't think our encounter back on Omega Station may be at all a good sign of things to come," Kalli commented darkly. "If they've already corrupted such remote stations like that... We must be cautious as we approach the next stations, as we will only be coming in closer toward the core worlds again."

Dolen nodded, in at least partial agreement. "Tis not, overall, a positive sign, yet a case might yet be made that such free-roaming brigands might have come from far further core-ward, leaving much between untouched in deference to superior force. The reverse, might also be true," he added the last with a faint shrug, unknowing.

"The cybernet's not much help, either way," Kalli commented. "I'm having to keep the random chatter of those crazy fools turned off... Well, we'll see when we get to Theta what the situation there is..."

"True enough," Dolen responded. "And therein lies the greatest disadvantage on several levels of a lack of a more rigid structure. This chaos shall doubtless serve to confuse and conceal the true workings of Chaos itself, until such as we directly observe."

Kalli leaned back, closing her eyes for a moment. "We will find what we will find, and we must do what we can..."

"Indeed," Dolen agreed softly. "Though I have found the recent confrontation with the Eldar's ancient foe bringing rise to some most uncommon thought, as did the awakening of the War God."

Kalli opened her eyes and quirked an eyebrow at him. "What do you mean?"

Dolen waved a hand in seeming airy dismissal as he replied, "Such ephemeral concepts as death and oblivion, the nature of the soul, and its ultimate destination." He returned to graceful full repose. "Such patterns of thought are greatly uncommon to the Eldar, the surety of place even after shedding mortal flesh well-known as we serve even from beyond that shell."

Kalli looked at him quietly for a moment and said, "For all the Death Dancers deal with it constantly, we don't really tend to think about it much, oddly enough. And I'm no philosopher myself, so I don't know what to tell you." She shrugged faintly.

Dolen chuckled softly. "In truth, I do not expect to find an answer until the question is finally posed, Kalli May. Yet I have found that topic of some fascination of late. For example, the Eldar, not to be confused with the El'dari of this place, knew full well the consequences should they pass unprotected to the beyond, our ancient foe awaiting us in the Warp. It is..." he shrugged, "Disturbing."

"Can't say I know much about the Warp either," Kalli commented. "Aside from the fact that it isn't my favorite place to fly through."

Dolen set aside the morbid train of thought with some effort, offering an apologetic smile. "Merely a topic of muse, Kalli May. I suspect that as you delve further into what that Mark shall mean to you, you shall find that those of my blood are prone to pondering such flights of fancy at times. Even those who live and die by the sword."

"You know, I did visit your universe at one point. Ironically enough, it was when I was sent off by the Army of Order to search for potential allies against Chaos."

"Oh?" Dolen inquired, brow quirking. "That was likely an interesting excursion, knowing the natural tendencies of the denizens of that place. You must have taken great care in concealing your full capabilities."

"I met the Tau," Kalli said flatly. "I wonder whatever happened to Spoon-man, anyway..."

"I have had very little interaction with that race," Dolen responded. "They are a relatively recent addition to the cast of players, and largely remained set apart to themselves, even during the Chaos intrusion at the Eye."

"The ones that were with me just kind of randomly disappeared during the Time-Change," Kalli commented. "Oh well. I've not seen any other trace of them since then. Weird."

"Unsurprising," Dolen mused. "Their involvement in greater matters seemed largely related to those forces which are ever inclined to intrude upon the declared territory of another, such as the Ork or Tyranid hordes. The Empire of Man..." He shrugged indifferently, having had mixed encounters with those.

"Then I later ended up in an alternate timeline version of that universe, due to Alpha being rusty with the Void Magic," Kalli said with a smirk back in his general direction. "We briefly ran into the Eldar there."

"And did you encounter such attitudes as you might expect of the El'dari here," Dolen queried, finishing with a smirk. "Or did you find that the Eldar are suspicion, bound within paranoia, and tied whole in arrogance? It is our nature."

"Well," Kalli said. "They didn't really care to have a nice chat over tea and cookies, but they let us get the hell out of there without blowing us into space dust. Which, from what I understand of your universe, was a right cordial response."

Dolen chuckled lightly. "It is indeed, though in fairness I must say that they are far more inclined to be reasonable in that regard than the Empire of Man or other factions. Merely existing is sufficient for such as the Tyranid to seek your life."

"I think I'm personally fairly glad that I never ran into that particular Empire, if they're worse than the Karzans from all I hear..."

"Hmm," Dolen considered. "Perhaps and perhaps not, some allowance must be made in their favor for the ready lethality of that place and the harsh realities required to survive with your soul intact. They are fanatical, violent, and refuse to listen to reason, yet they are not without their virtues in a galaxy at war. They are organized and brave, showing no mercy for that which corrupts. Unworthy of respect? No."

"They'd probably have started shooting at me, then I'd have been obligated to shoot back, and it'd have gotten ugly," Kalli muttered.

Dolen chuckled. "You might be surprised, Kalli May. They are not wholly beyond reason or blind to reality, even at times working beside others such as the Eldar when faced by a common foe. Never have the two coordinated their efforts, as far as I know, but chance meeting may sometimes lead to a degree of understanding."

"Perhaps," Kalli commented. "I still doubt they'd be glad to chat over tea and cookies, though." She replicated a pot of tea and a plate of cookies.

"Most likely not," Dolen agreed readily. "Nor would they be capable of looking beyond their much limited perspective to perceive the greater whole. They are, on the whole, much akin to primitives in many ways, even so far as their reverence for their technology."

Kalli munched on a cookie absently.

Dolen laughed lightly. "Which brings memory of just one such encounter, in circumstances most dire upon a Reaver infested world. Those with whom I traveled battled through a swarm, to find a lone marine in their terminator armor facing what he believed to be his final stand as his comrades had already fallen to claw and shredder."

He paused, musing at the memory, even in such straits the human had been fearless.

"Regardless, we welcomed his bravery in our ranks for the time, allowing him to accompany us upon our search for that which controlled the local swarm. Some time later, when we found the behemoth in question, we communicated the information for a heavier strike while the marine did the same in his fashion. He began to intone an incantation, of all things, as though speaking to a god, which activated the longer ranged communications device within his ancient armor and allowed him to reveal the target to his own forces. Quite strange, to us, but the power of the combined strike was... most satisfying."

Kalli gave a nod, listening to his story. "Something of what inspired the Karzan Rebellion, I think. But such disparate groups couldn't get along for any extended period of time, even if we had some overlap sometimes. That's the reason why the Empire always held out against us. The different groups of the Rebellion could never stop bickering with one another long enough to make any serious offensives. They only ever really managed to work together when their own systems were threatened, and even then only for so long as was absolutely necessary to diffuse the threat. The Death Dancers don't like the Euphorians, the Cybions don't like the Glyphans, and nobody likes the Urians..." She smirked faintly.

"Chaos thrives best where it may best remain unnoticed," Dolen replied. "Such factions are well-known to me, and likely at the heart of the reason which no permanent progress may be made in eradicating it. One may only hope that this galaxy does not lend itself so readily to acceptance of the state of war which would inevitably prevail." He chuckled quietly. "And perhaps outside forces may affect that as well."

Kalli grunted softly. "We have been at war for nearly four hundred years now. And it was the fool Cybions who brought Chaos here in hopes of speeding the victory of the Rebellion. They wanted power and they didn't care where it came from."

"There are always those who seek more power," Dolen agreed. "Such lusts inevitable lead to strengthening Chaos, as certain factions of it are all too ready to lend their aid for the mere trifle of your soul. The ends of such are rarely pleasant, which should bring some satisfaction to you even as we must counter the evils which they have loosed."

"We're almost there," Kalli commented, glancing at the readouts on the console. She sat up and stretched a bit, and put away what was left of the tea and cookies.

Examining the node's readouts, the image nodded in agreement, "Time and enough to continue our quest." The image flickered and then vanished, returning to normal awareness in preparation for their arrival. Remembering the last station, he brought the fighter's weapons to full readiness and waited.

The Darknova dropped out into normal space near the station Theta. It was an isolated moonbase that appeared to have formerly been a mining colony, but was primarily abandoned after the resources in the moon ran dry.

Dolen swept the lighter craft off at an angle from the path of the Darknova, scanning for signs of anything beyond the normal.

"It would appear that all is at least quiet here," he mused over the commlink, "Does anything seem amiss to you?"

They didn't receive any communications demanding their identification or threatening to kill them.

Kalli said, "Too quiet. I'm getting lifesign readings, though."

Quiet, perhaps, but Dolen was at least glad they didn't have the Tyranid to contend with here.

"Perhaps stragglers left behind?" he posed thoughtfully. "Nonetheless, it would appear that it is not an immediate threat. Let us examine it further."

Dolen's fighter swooped toward the station, wary of the silence. Kalli flew her ship in closer, doing careful scans to try to ascertain the situation down on the base.

"Something's definitely not right here..." Kalli murmured. "My sensors don't pick up anything out of the ordinary... but I have a hunch."

"Then by all means follow it," Dolen replied readily, developing a healthy respect for the Dancer's 'hunches'.

She brought her ship down cautiously toward the docking area, ready with weapons to bear. Dolen followed shortly behind, angling his ship to provide covering or offensive fire as needful. She landed the ship and popped open the hatch, peering out cautiously and hands on her weapons. There wasn't anyone in the docking bay, however.

The other ship didn't immediately land, waiting to observe for moments more before edging forward to settle into the bay. Dolen snapped his helmet into place and disembarks, the El'dari rifle cradled lightly in his arms, and scans the area.

"The difficulty with your 'hunches', Kalli May," he offers blandly, "Is that they remain ever vague until the moment strikes."

"I'd think you'd be used to that by now," she said gently. Blaster in hand, she headed toward the door to the corridor.

"Mm," Dolen replied noncommittally, following silently after her and exchanging places as needed to cover from corner to corner.

She tapped the control panel to open the door, and immediately the stench of death and decay outside becomes quite apparent. "Ugh."

His armor did not allow for immediate identification by scent, set at present to full containment as was usual on a possibly compromised space construction, but her reaction was enough to surmise its source. He stood at the edge of the door and peers beyond, rifle muzzle following his line of vision.

"What do you suggest we just vaporize this place from space..." Kalli muttered. "Bloody hell."

"No," Dolen replied evenly. "I would much prefer discovering what led to this, and whether that danger remains confined to this station first. It would be ill served to find later it had already departed and give no warning, do you not believe?" He leaned around the corner for a better look to all sides, then stepped in. "But cautiously."

Kalli headed down the corridor and opened another door to a large room. It was apparently full of the dead and dying, and the stench was even worse in here. Kalli made a face.

Dolen recognized the vision of death coming without hope, and he turned away from the corpses without comment. He looked down the corridor in both directions thoughtfully, then said quietly, "Come, the command center should be relatively simple to find, we may locate some clue as to what has transpired here in the station logs."

Kalli headed off with him, not eager to spend yet more time hanging around the place. The control room was sealed off, but a quick override code opened the doors to the empty room.

"Odd," Dolen muttered, waiting for Kalli to enter and then sealing the door once more behind them. "One would expect this to be a final ground for any besieged station, and yet nothing?"

He shook his head and examined the consoles, searching until he found the controls he sought among them and scrolling through the logs. This was apparently a minor Cybion outpost on which they were experimenting with medical treatments for various diseases. Something, however, went terribly wrong resulting in a major outbreak. They tried but they couldn't find a way to stop it.

"Delightful," Dolen muttered grimly, skimming what might be found in the records, grateful of his sealed armor. "Kalli May," he drew her attention quietly. "Pray tell me that the enhancements provided in your background are unusually resistant to Chaos-borne disease. Else, I fear my insistence has endangered you greatly."

Kalli said, "I spent some weeks a while back around some plague-ridden filth without any ill effects. I should be fine. Never been sick a day in my life, Chaos or no."

Dolen sighed and shook his head, moving for the door. "The less we spend exposed to the Plaguebearer's gifts, the better. Whether we may be affected does not change that it may be carried to another place through us."

They would require a determined decontamination and quarantine before setting foot upon another station.

"That," she said ruefully, "is why I wanted to just destroy the place from space."

"Remember my commentary regarding your 'hunches', Kalli May?" Dolen asked as they make their way rapidly through the station and back toward the bay. "Remind me to pay even closer attention to them upon the next event, if you would be so kind. I might well simply decide it best to turn and find another place to be entire."

Kalli chuckled softly and headed back out toward the docking bay again. Dolen wasted no time upon arriving, climbing into his ship and departing the station on the heels of the Darknova.

"Lend your hand to their grave, Kalli May," he said softly to the comm, caressing the controls to begin pouring energy into the station.

Kalli proceeded to power up the particle cannon to reduce this contaminated base into a pile of smoldering rubble. She figured it a mercy to end the suffering of the people still alive there. Dolen remained in his armor, searching through the node for the decontamination protocols he knew were present, nodding sharply as he engaged them.

"Seek what precautions are available to you, Kalli May," he transmitted, the sensors aboard the Darknova registering as the smaller craft opened its compartments to the hard vacuum of space. "Best to attend to what is possible before continuing."

Kalli proceeded to run through standard decontamination protocol and had Alpha double-check everything just in case. Dolen allowed the full, quite thorough procedure to continue its course uninterrupted, and was somewhat relieved as the cabin re-pressurizes once more.

"Such procedure is likely sufficient," Dolen commented. "Yet still we shall find ourselves waiting for any signs of contagion. That Foul One's influence is... unpleasant."

"Indeed," Kalli replied with a bit of a sigh. "I'm gonna set us a course for the Hamilton system next... There's no bases out there anymore, but it should provide a fair opening into the core worlds again. It'll be eleven hours to get there."

"Lead on, then," Dolen replied. "Perhaps we may find a location to pursue a self-imposed quarantine for a time which does not involve being confined to such cramped quarters."

She opened the wormhole and headed in. "Hamilton used to be a wild, independent system, but the Empire wanted the system and fought a long, bitter guerilla war trying to gain control over it. The Death Dancers refused to aid the Empire and kept smuggling supplies to the guerillas. But after the Usurper took the throne, they wiped out much of the population of the planet and turned it from a lush forest world into a wasteland. There's nobody living there these days, not even pirates or smugglers go there anymore if they can help it, but there's an old abandoned jump gate there."

"Why is it that the more I hear of this Empire," Dolen mused, "The more I am reminded of the Empire of Man? Destroy that which does not bow to you, or that you do not understand. Never think that perhaps you are merely adding to your own woes in the long run. Mon'Keigh," the last was barely audible over the comm, but quite disdainfully placed.

Kalli gave a faint snort. "People are crazy. That wasn't half as bad as the Cybions out in the Athens system who thought it would be a good idea to perform genetic experiments upon Orks."

"Orks?" Dolen replied with disbelief. "They thought to use their enhancing abilities upon _Orks_? That alone is evidence enough to prove their madness! The only beings which might be worse candidates for such would be the Tyranid." He sighed resignedly. "It would seem our task is far from nearing complete in this galaxy."

Kalli said, "As you'd probably expect, the 'specimens' escaped and started wrecking havoc wherever they want. Last I'd heard, they'd somehow ended up in the Elkandu universe."

Dolen snorted derisively, transferring over to the Darknova mid-thought. "They likely found that space well-suited to their anarchic ways, if observation is any indication. Provided, of course, that the natural homicidal inclinations could be kept in check for more than a night."

Kalli relaxed into her seat, rubbing her eyes a bit. "Meh. Okay, let's see... eleven hours. Hmm."

"And longer within our target system to make certain the plague is not borne with us," Dolen offered with a quirked, apologetic smile. "Long hours ahead, I fear."

"So," Kalli said. "Do you want to watch the Silmarillion Duodecology Extended Version?"

Dolen just turned a blankly questioning look to Kalli. "I suppose?"

Kalli tapped the console and popped up the screen and said, "The ancient history of the planet Arda." The screen displayed the words "Ainulindale: The Music of the Ainur". And proceeded to go into that. Kalli murmured, "I suppose I should say 'mythology' more than 'history'. But for all I know it actually happened like that."

Dolen paid full attention as she proceeded, though upon unfamiliar grounds entire. There were still many things which made little to no sense to him in this place, their concepts of entertainment remaining high on that list.

And thus, over the next several hours, there was a good deal of business over glowing trees, pointy-ears, battles, a bunch of people dying, singing, and swords.

It was definitely interesting to see the primitive means by which the various races worked against their foes in the films, Dolen mused, but all told he was quite glad they had progressed beyond that point in days far beyond his reckoning or even any surviving records. It proved sufficient to while away the hours, but he has no great complaint when the voyage nears its end and the showing is brought necessarily to a close.

Kalli stretched a bit as the third film came to a close. "We're almost to Hamilton now," she observed, glancing at the console.

"I believe I shall look forward to examining our destination," Dolen replied with heartfelt sincerity, then chuckled. "Not that the company is not agreeable, nor entertaining, merely..." he grins crookedly and shrugged, "I shall return before I further incriminate myself, Kalli May. Let us see what might be seen."

He dismissed the projection and focuses on the physical once more, waiting for the transition. Kalli chuckled softly and they dropped out of hyperspace into the Hamilton system. It was as she said. One desiccated planet that barely still supported life, an asteroid belt, a couple uninteresting planets, a gas giant or two, and a jump gate. Settling into a more normal reserved and alert state, Dolen scanned the immediate are and examines the celestial bodies nearby.

"This gate," he asked. "Was is left functional and manned, thus something to be avoided, or abandoned and perhaps useful to our immediate plans?"

"Abandoned. Shut down, sealed off. But my security code should be good for it."

"Very well," Dolen acknowledged. "Approaching for a confirming sensor check of its abandonment. Barring signs of life, let us land and avail ourselves of what yet remains."

There didn't appear to be anything alive in the entire system of a higher form of life than algae, fungi, and insects. Finding nothing even remotely of interest to deter from the stated course, Dolen proceeded to dock at the gate station. They would, at least, have a greater space to move about in while waiting a reasonable time to make certain of decontamination.

Kalli headed in likewise. Naturally, the life support and artificial gravity were still functional, since those _never_ stop working. The place didn't look like anyone's been there for years, possibly centuries.

Dolen emerged from his ship gratefully, entirely too much time spent recently within its confines that his body recognized even if the mind had wandered. From habit and training, he did not go without full weapons but was decidedly less than militarily correct in stance.

Kalli headed out and took a poke around the place, heading for the main control center to turn on the lights and such. Dolen makes his way into the station, using his armor light until Kalli got things restarted once again, more or less idly inspecting for anything of interest or potential more or less natural hazard. It had been years since it had seen maintenance, and small mishaps with meteorites and the like were fairly common.

Kalli gets the lights on and starts a general systems diagnostic just to make sure there weren't any major issues with the thing and that the gate was still working. As it turned out, there was major system damage and the gate was busted. She sent the Asura clone to go fix the damned thing.

"Is there aught which might require immediate attention from your vantage, Kalli May?" Dolen inquired over the commlink, his casual inspection not revealing anything blatant, but then he would readily admit that he was no artisan to recognize the smallest flaws which a station's instruments might.

Kalli replied, "Defense systems are down, no shields, no weapons, the gate's not even working. All we've got are basic systems here. Got Asura working on fixing the gate at any rate. At least we're in no particular hurry to be out of here..."

"And no reason to expect an attack," Dolen affirmed, though the idea of being largely defenseless was not highly appealing. "Are the sensory systems sufficiently intact to provide warning?"

"Nope. We don't even have sensors here. Ship sensors will have to suffice for the moment."

"Mm," Dolen replied thoughtfully and began to return to the bay. "I believe that there may be something aboard my ship which may aid somewhat in that, or be reasonably adjusted to do so. I shall seek further documentation within the node."

Kalli proceeded to go find somewhere to relax for a bit. And set up a screen to watch the next part of the Silmarillion on. Dolen returned to his ship and delves into the archives in the node for a bit, eventually finding what he needs and familiarizing himself with the El'dari adaptation. The Darknova's sensors would detect his craft departing and moving a distance from the station, remaining in place for a few minutes, and then returning to land once more.

"Remote in place," he reported over the comm, "That shall extend our detection sphere to allow a greater response time."

"That'll do," Kalli replied. "So. Wanna come watch the Silmarillion Part IV?"

Dolen considered the offer, thought upon ways to gracefully decline, but ultimately decided that the company would be vastly preferred to solitary wandering on a deserted station.

"Certainly," he replied. "Again to the Darknova, or does this forlorn station possess accommodations able to the task?"

"I've got a viewscreen in the observation lounge powered up and hooked up with it," Kalli replied.

"On my way," Dolen responded readily, pausing long enough to leave his rifle aboard ship before making his way to the lounge. "Where, pray tell," he asked upon entering, "Does the grand saga begin this time?" He schooled himself to polite joviality, all appearances indicating anticipation.

Kalli rambled off for a bit about the Noldor, the Silmarils, the Curse of Feanor, and such, and started up the next film. The entire concept was odd, but Dolen could not deny that the makers of these movies had put considerable effort into them and, from Kalli May's evident enthusiasm, had ensnared the imaginations of likely countless viewers. He could not, in all conscience, not at least attempt to understand their appeal further. And so, he found himself once more watching the next in the series.

Kalli munched on a bit of pizza and a Genericola as she watched. Dolen got up perhaps a half hour into the movie and settled to his knees on the floor, folding his arms and studying the movie with a thoughtful expression.

After a time continuing in this fashion, he said, "I truly find this difficult to fathom, Kalli May. These films show recreations of events that are of no real historical importance, nor of educational value, and nothing of tactical use. Why do you watch them with such vigor?"

Kalli glanced at him in confusion and scratches her head for a moment. "Why else? The same reason people play music and write poetry."

Dolen thought on that, the idea strange to compare this to what were accepted and long-standing artforms, but then what else were they, truly? He nodded thoughtfully. "Indeed." Then returned to a more contemplative study of the film itself.

More fighting. More elves dying in noble and brave manners. Oh, look, there come the humans. And some of them don't suck, too! At least, Dolen mused with silent humor, the musical score was largely appealing as the masses of beings ran about and slaughtered each other in implausible fashion. It seemed highly unlikely that such things could have happened, merely considering the potentials of the physical world, but he set aside his disbelief and general dismay in an attempt to enjoy the experience.

The movies went on and on. "Turin Turambar" and "Beren and Luthien" both got a movie to themselves. Kalli seemed particularly interested in those for some reason.

Dolen was accustomed to remaining in a meditative stance for long hours, but even he was forced to stand along the way and walk around to stretch, remaining largely attentive on the films. He didn't miss her additional interest in the specific episodes, and inquired after it.

And then, finally, mercifully, the Silmarillion is over. Kalli got up and stretches thoroughly.

"As fun as that was, I think my eyes are about to fall out..." Alpha commented.

"Yeah, let's not do that again," Kalli said.

Dolen restrained the inclination to jest about gouging his out, barely, instead rising and turning to offer a bow, "A most... enlightening venture."

"At least Peter Jackson didn't direct this one..." Alpha said. "It's refreshing to see a true attempt to put the words into action." Thankfully the one Kalli watched with him earlier was the Fourth Millennium remake and not the Peter Jackson films. 

"Mm," Dolen replied with polite semblance of interest, having no particular inclination to delve into the concept of there being multiple versions of what he had just seen.

Kalli glanced at her chronometer and said, "How long have we been here? Asura should be about done with fixing things up at any rate."

"No more than half a day," Dolen replied readily. He could likely count of the grueling minutes involved, but refrained. "It may be some time yet before we may be sure of the lack of contagion."

Alpha sighed.

"I'm inclined to do something in the meantime that does not involve watching movies," Kalli said. "I think I've had enough of that for the moment."

"I believe I shall avail myself of a quiet section of the station," Dolen said. "Recent events have served well in using skills, yet they may always be honed. I shall bid you farewell, for a time then."

"Agreed," Alpha says. "I'm about ready to empty out the hold and start working out... or something."

Kalli nodded to Dolen and said, "I would concur."

Dolen bowed to them both, offering a polite smile, and made good his retreat for the time being. There would be space enough for him to indulge in more vigorous activity as well as meditative training. Alpha headed out to the station and started stretching and doing some calisthenic exercises to pass the time. Kalli headed off to entertain herself with target practice and a couple of drones.

Kalli target practiced for a while, then went and did a "flight simulator", that is, a space shooter game, for a while. Well, a space shooter with accurate physics, identical response time to her actual ship, and precisely simulated targets, at any rate. She had the ship computers simulate the entire fucking Chaos fleet and tried to take them on single-handedly. She got "killed" several times.

Dolen, generally of more serene demeanor, found a quiet area of the station and engaged in various exercises at first, settling eventually into an extended meditative state. He actually took advantage of the opportunity and got out of his armor for a while.

Several hours later, interrupting one of her exercises in futility, Kalli received a chime on the comm and Dolen asked for a moment of her time when convenient, and stated his location within the station's maze.

Kalli's screen went black as she "died" again. She replied, "Be right there." She smirked a bit, turned off the simulation, and heads over that way.

Dolen returned to the center of the floor in the cleared storage room he'd decided to occupy for his practice after he'd placed the call, not expecting any immediate response. His armor stood silent vigil to one side, his weapons laid neatly beside and obviously maintained recently, the scarlet mark on its chestplate echoing the hint of color visible at the neck of his shipsuit.

He looked up as she entered and rose smoothly from his knees, offering a bow. "I apologize if I intruded upon other entertainments or exercise, Kalli May."

She waved her hand dismissively. "Not at all. What's up?"

Dolen remained pensively silent for a moment, gathering the skeins of thought he had considered throughout his meditations and achieved a state of equilibrium at last in regards to recent ponderings. "I would ask a favor of you, Kalli May," he replied quietly. "But first I would ask if you remembered that of which we spoke earlier, of misgiving and doubt?"

Kalli raised an eyebrow at him, leaning an arm up against against a nearby bulkhead. "What is it?"

Dolen studied her for a moment, as though deciding on something, then replied, "This is not a simple matter," he amended, "Simple and yet not..."

He thrust a hand to the side in a faint display of aggravation, unusually plain.

"I speak as one of my blood to another, Kalli May, and these are by rights things which such a one would already know and do without thought or hesitation. You were not, however, born of my world or blood." He paused, offering a bemused grin, "We of the Eldar are not accustomed to having to speak so plainly at times, but I find it is needful in order to retain a balance within myself. I fear only one thing, Kalli May, and that is the death of the soul. Such a thing is unknown among my people for a reason, even in death do we serve, else that soul find itself lost to the great Defiler. Yet I am far, far from my home or any of my blood. Save, through Khaine, you."

He straightened, donning the regal, noble formality of the Eldar around him like a cloak.

"As the only of my blood that I may ask, and who does not know, I would request that when I fall and you are yet able that you carry my soulstone back to the El'dari," Dolen said.

Kalli didn't seem to think it was silly. She gave a short nod and said, "If I am capable of doing so, I shall do so, then."

A great weight seemed to lift from his soul, and Dolen bowed in profound gratitude. "I apologize that I seemed, perhaps, reluctant to address it, yet such matters..." He shook his head and instead turns to look at his armor, "If that should occur, there is a release that I shall show you for ease, or should that be damaged cut it free. The flesh will no longer matter."

If Kalli knew about Elkandu healing, resurrection, and cloning techniques, she would probably ramble on about them here now, but she didn't, so she wouldn't. Instead, she was attentive and serious toward what he has to say and explain. Dolen showed her the sealed release switch that would pop the soulstone free of its protective casing.

"That is all that there is of it," he said quietly, "The stone may then be returned to the El'dari, perhaps one day to find its way back to Iyanden that I might serve again." Or end up somewhere else entirely he didn't want to think about, weird world.

Kalli gave a nod. "Very well."

Dolen took her hand as though to shake it, and instead bowed to lightly brush his lips to the skin. "Thank you, Kalli May," he murmured, then abruptly straightens and turned away, gathering his armor. "You have given me much assistance and ease, no less trust beyond measure in light of your past experiences with my kind, I owe you more than I may say."

Kalli, not entirely sure what to say on the matter, gave a slight bow in return and simply asked, "When shall we leave this place?"

"If there is no sign of contagion within two days," Dolen replied crisply, the familiar act of re-donning his armor settling him once more, "Then it is highly unlikely it shall occur at all. Never have I heard or seen one of the Plaguebearer's disease requiring longer than that to begin."

Kalli gave a nod. "I've set up my ship with a battle simulator in the meantime." She added dryly, "I have come to the conclusion that I cannot take on the entire Chaos fleet by myself."

Dolen glanced over at her with quirky amusement. "Some hundreds of years experience lay behind you, and you required a simulator to reveal this to you? Please, Kalli May, do not bring me painful, painful memories of new Guardians and their blazing overconfidence."

Kalli chuckled softly and quoted, "'Overconfidence is death. A Death Dancer must dance on the edge of death, and be confident enough to believe they can win, but not so confident as to not believe they can lose.'"

"Very good, Kalli May," Dolen replied with a grin. "I see that you have learned your rote lessons as well as the younger Dancers." He chuckled, slipping the last of his armor into place and securing it. "Even I, the mighty Eldar warrior, bear no such illusions as to my capability in _that_ regard."

Kalli chuckled softly. "Primarily it was a test to see how well I could do, not whether I could win or not."

"And how did the exercise go, then?" Dolen asked curiously, "I would not place such a task above Khaine, but any other..." He chuckled and shook his head.

"Well, I did manage considerable damage to them and managed to take out a few of their larger ships and a good many smaller ones."

"In the end, it shall likely require a fleet to banish them," Dolen said. "Though where this fleet may come from we may not yet know. Perhaps the El'dari, perhaps the rebels, or a combination of both. Who may say. Though the legends are inspirational, I spoke truly when I told an Elkandu of the fate of heroes."

"The best heroes, I find, are the ones who live to tell about it themselves," Kalli said wryly. "I'm already considered a legend and a hero among much of the rebellion... Hmm. I can also have the computer simulate friendly ships to give a fair idea just how many we'll need, perhaps..."

"That would not be an ill start," Dolen replied thoughtfully. "Though I would suggest erring on the side of caution when setting its parameters. Tis ill fortune indeed to arrive with merely enough only to find the demons of ill fate beset and set all astray."

"I tend to do so, yes. I can set the virtual pilots to different skill levels and such..."

Dolen gathered his weapons and helm, setting them in their places about his person, and swept a hand toward the door with a grin. "Then let us be about it. It is ever more entertaining to have a goal and mission to see to, would you not agree?"

"Indeed."

She headed off back toward the docking bay. She climbed back into her ship and restarted the simulation program, adding in a group of friendlies set to "Novice Death Dancer" skill level. Dolen followed in her wake, but diverted to his own craft and its node, allowing for basic Guardian level skill training of pilots as he tied into the Darknova's datanet.

"I am basing ship strength upon information within the node and personal experience of basic training levels," Dolen said, adding with dry amusement. "It would likely be appreciated were the El'dari ship capabilities not to travel beyond this exercise."

Kalli chuckled softly. "This ship's locked away tighter than a safe. I've got too much 'top secret' crap on this computer to not be paranoid about someone trying to steal it." She activated the simulation again, and it gave a countdown to starting, and flew in.

Dolen slipped into the control gestalt as the exercise began and followed, knowing full well that the El'dari would not be sending such poor fliers to battle when their craft would already be dedicated to those who lived for it. It would, however, prove an interesting exercise, and he immersed himself in it, assigning his own craft to the Darknova's wing in acceptance of the Mark's commitments.

This time, surprisingly. Kalli's flying was flawless and the other pilots proved sufficient distraction to allow her to absolutely devastate the Chaos fleet. She could only wish to get that sort of luck on the real thing. Dolen maintained as close a formation as possible in the insane knife-range fighting that ensued, though making note of several errors which a more experienced pilot would have sneered haughtily at him for. All told, when the Black Fleet lay in ruins behind them and the 'scores' were counted, he was suitably gratified with the numbers calculated.

"That either side shall have better and worse pilots than simulated," Dolen said as it concluded, "is a given, yet it allows for a base idea of what is needful."

"I could only hope I flew so well during a real battle," Kalli commented. "But it does give me some hope that we may yet win this."

"Now all that we need do," Dolen said ruefully, studying the simulation numbers, "Is gather the force listed here. A small and minor undertaking, I am certain."

"I think we can manage that and more," she said with a chuckle.

"I believe," Dolen replied with quiet certainty, "That the El'dari available to this exercise will be overshadowed when the time is come. Call it a 'hunch', if you will," he concluded with a chuckle.

"Mmm," Kalli stretched. "What now, you suppose?"

Dolen looked at the slowly changing readout of the node's chronometer and snorted lightly. "Perhaps another day until we may safely be assured of passing among others safely. Until then...?" He frowned momentarily in thought, then brightened as an idea and point of curiosity cross his suicidally inclined brain. "Care to display the skill of your order, Kalli May?"

"Hmmmm?" Kalli says, grinning with faint curiosity. "Anytime."

Dolen disengaged himself from the pilot's couch, "Very well then, would you prefer a specific arena, or shall we return to the place which I availed myself of earlier?"

"Makes little difference to me," Kalli said, climbing out of her ship and stretching a bit.

Dolen emerged and offered a bow, grinning faintly as he gestured toward the bay's exit. "Then my choice it is, while you may choose form and weapons."

"I'll stand by my blaster any day," Kalli said, heading out to that general area again. Primarily, she thought, because it was a good deal easier to set it to a non-lethal setting than the saber.

"Very well," Dolen replied. "That or unarmed would have been my recommendations regardless. Even the skilled may have mischance now and again."

He returned to the spacious room he'd been occupying and motioned her within. She carefully set her blaster to a low setting, to the point where it would sting but wouldn't cause any serious damage. She headed in and took her position.

Dolen was careful to set the El'dari pistol to its practice setting. He glanced at her with a brow quirked in question, "Of fairness, shall I remove my armor?"

Kalli grinned at him and said, "Of fairness, I believe you should not."

Dolen chuckled lightly and inclined his head. "As you wish. Any terms you would declare?"

"Not I," she said calmly.

Any expression vanished beneath a calm mask as he nodded. "As you wish. Begin."

Dolen knew the woman was fast, perhaps faster than he despite his lineage, and it was speed which inevitably mattered most in such straightforward encounters. Thankfully such 'standoffs' were infrequent in a soldier's existence. He waited with patient calm, knowing his own skill and truly seeking to measure it against her own, observing the impressively controlled reactions of his opponent.

A flicker of motion betrayed her action, a bare instant yet allowing him the barest of time needed to spring to the side and fire as he moved. He felt a tingle of energy at the edge of his thigh, recognizing a non-lethal blow with a soldier's experience even as his own took her high in the chest. He rolled as he landed, deliberately making no use of the 'injured' leg and grace of motion in it.

Raising a hand in warding, he smiled quietly and tapped high on his chest, where his own blow struck her. "I do believe, Kalli May, that this was somewhat less than a draw."

"Well done," Kalli said when it's over, giving him a bow. She did not make excuses or belittle his achievements.

Dolen straightened smoothly, dismissing the 'injury' after pointing it out to her with a nod of acknowledgement. "As I may honestly say in return. It is rare to see one of non-Eldar blood moving swiftly enough to best us. A mere moment less, and it would have been I accepting defeat."

"I must say that I have never encountered anyone else who could move faster than me." Kalli grinned at him.

"Training does indeed serve us both well," Dolen replied, not bothering to denigrate his own ability, nor belittling hers. "I would be interested in seeing a test in more varied grounds one day."

Kalli gave a nod. "Indeed.'

Dolen reset the pistol to its normal setting with deliberation, needing no mishaps when next faced with a live and hostile target. "I would also," he added, "be honored to act as a training partner when you seek something less predictable than a drone." His own exercises were very formalized and ceremonial, but he knew he wouldn't suffer from live practice either.

Kalli nodded again. "Anytime you like. The drones are pretty nice, though. I got them from the Eyes of Truth. Could probably even use them in an actual battle, if need be."

"Be wary of such," Dolen replied lightly. "Tis uncertain still from whence the Necrons rose, but much supposition has been based on the likelihood of turning upon their creators." He chuckled and shrugged. "Yet I am sure the wonders of the Elkandu would never return to haunt the galaxies. It might displease them."

Kalli smirked faintly. "From what I have seen, Suzcecoz tends to focus on what she's building, and not why or who might make use of it. Hence I am concerned at her disappearance and where she might have gotten off to... and what she's doing."

"Considering she may or may not have been influenced by Chaos before her departure," Dolen responded, "That may prove more than a matter of curiosity in times to come."

"She's counted among the best of the Elkandu at magic, and _the_ best at technology. I'd hate to think what Chaos could use her for..."

"Beings of such power are ultimately beyond our scope," Dolen said. "If indeed Chaos owns that one, then it shall fall to the whims of greater powers to judge the outcome."

Kalli shook her head and sighed slightly. "Times I wish I knew... but I'm not omniscient. Don't think I would really care to be, anyway.'

"Nor would I, Kalli May," Dolen agreed quietly. "There is enough in any life to worry upon without risking the insanity of a power intended for the Gods. I will happily remain unknowing beyond what my own actions and meditations might bring to me." Dolen shook his head bemusedly. "Speaking of meditations, there is enough for me to consider for a time. Go forth and entertain yourself, Kalli May, I shall await our release in more quiet pursuits."

Kalli gave a nod and a bit of a bow and went to do something or other.


	14. Searching for Chaos

They were on the abandoned station doing their own things for several hours. Kalli was, however, disinclined to interrupt whatever Dolen was doing, and fairly occupied in her own shit anyway.

Dolen returned to the landing bay, having watched the slow progress of time with growing impatience until the agreed-upon hour arrived. "I believe we may proceed without further delay," he transmitted over the commlink, "Save retrieving the remote."

That task was simple to complete, and was in fact done within short order of Kalli returning to the bay and preparing the Darknova for departure. Asura was, by this point, holed back up in the engine room of the Darknova, having finished doing whatever it was he was busy doing.

Kalli said, "All ready here."

"Where does this gate lead, Kalli May?" Dolen asked, knowing that it led deeper within the Karzan but not possessing the familiarity that she had.

"The New Scotland system," Kalli replied as she took off out of the docking bay.

"Likelihood of inhabitation or military presence?" Dolen inquired, settling his smaller craft in the shadow of the Darknova as it emerges.

"It's technically Imperial space, but they tend to prefer to leave it alone for the most part. The buoy network does extend that far out, though."

"We shall need assume your ally has not yet sufficiently disrupted that system," Dolen said, "Caution shall perforce be required." Not that they had proceeded in any fashion save cautiously, for the most part.

Kalli proceeded to enter the security codes, and the gate began to slowly open. The large metal gate covering the wormhole retracted to allow them access into the tunnel within. Dolen waited patiently for the gate, waiting for the signal to proceed from the Darknova. Similar transits were not uncommon to him, Eldar forces often using Warp gates to appear in places highly unexpected by their foes.

"Alright, here we go," Kalli said, steering the Darknova into the gate without further ado.

"Acknowledged," Dolen replied serenely and followed the Darknova through. He could only assume that the technician who had worked the past days on the system had accurately repaired and calibrated the whole.

And hence, after a few minutes in the wormhole, they emerged again in the New Scotland system. Into a moderate sized battle. It appeared that a portion of the Chaos fleet had already gotten out this far by now. Not immediately at the gate at any rate, but closer to the planet New Scotland and the Manitoba gate, technically. But still. Not friendly.

"It would seem," Dolen commented, absorbing the tactical data, "That we shall be given the opportunity to test some part of that recent simulation, Kalli May. Weapon and defensive systems fully powered and ready."

The system defenders were the combined forces of the planet New Scotland: The Highland Goats and the Lowland Sheep. They had been enemies for centuries, but they were damn well not going to let these crazy Chaos bastards on their planet. This was the reason why the Empire preferred to leave New Scotland alone. Who wanted to interfere in a battle between Goats and Sheep?

Kalli headed in to engage the enemy. It would be best to identify oneself as a friendly faction before entering a maelstrom of battle, yet Dolen somehow doubted that those so engaged would have the time or inclination to communicate. He instead swept in aside the Darknova, clearing his mind of any other thought save the moment and the targets sorting themselves out in the node's displays.

The Goats and Sheep were smart enough to recognize the design of their ships as being different from the ships they happened to be fighting. Darknovas were a familiar thing in this part of the galaxy, at least. And Kalli's transponder signal was well-known to them.

Although their performance was average at best, it appeared that Chaos was managing to cause as much damage to themselves as to the people they were trying to fight. Dolen had the occasional moment of cold amusement as the lackluster efforts of the Chaos forces seemed to dissolve into their namesake, but took full advantage of the disorganization to act in support of the system's defenders.

Shortly, the invasion was repelled and the defenders returned to docking on the planet or watching the Manitoba gate. They sent a word of thanks to Kalli and Dolen for their assistance.

"Quite a poor showing for the Black Fleet's outriders," Dolen remarked sardonically over the comm. "Perhaps they sought to remove one of their commanders."

Kalli replied, "No kidding. I expect, though, that it'll be all uphill from here. We're two jumps away from the Toronto system now. I expect they'll have occupied Manitoba by now as well, if they're here..."

"A valid assumption," Dolen agreed. "This is likely as far as we may proceed coreward without considering alternate means, as I have no desire to make the acquaintance of a well entrenched Chaos force."

"Jump holes," Kalli said. "We used to use them frequently when performing covert operations in the core worlds and the gates were being guarded. And in the fringe worlds before the jump drive was invented, out beyond the gate network. They're less reliable than the gates, and require a skilled pilot to get through them safely, but they'll slip us into the system without being seen surely enough."

Dolen considered that thoughtfully, then responded, "As the defenders here are surely to be granted the boon of time in which to reorganize their efforts in the wake of the repulsed Chaos invasion, it may serve us well to take advantage of that tactic. Intelligence data regarding the next system would prove invaluable."

She sent him the coordinates to the jump hole to the Manitoba system. "And that, is top secret rebel data," she said lightly. "The old jump hole on most people's charts isn't stable anymore, but that one is and most people don't know about it yet."

"I am uncertain of my ability to maintain the secrecy of such information, Kalli May," Dolen replied dryly, then dispenses with amusement and settles into crisp alertness. "Very well, such an opportunity should not remain unexploited. Ready to proceed, at your leisure."

Kalli slipped into a nearby nebula and headed toward the coordinates given for the jump hole. Engaging the stealth systems for his craft, Dolen followed the Darknova on an arcing course, boosting speed just enough to meet at the designated coordinates within roughly the same timeframe.

Kalli entered the jump hole. It was a twisting maze through hyperspace threatening to destroy their ships at the slightest wrong move, but Kalli was calm and confident as always. She had navigated jump holes countless times before.

Dolen did not have the experience of such navigation, but remained finely attuned to the other ship through the gestalt of the node. Part of him was indeed aware of the likelihood of destruction at the least misstep, but that was present in any soldier at any given moment in a day.

Alpha naturally was a little nervous about it, but he had full trust in Kalli's piloting ability. Minutes later, they emerged into an asteroid field on the edge of the Manitoba system. Alpha exhaled the breath he didn't realize he was holding.

Normal space reappearing around them, Dolen engaged the stealth suite once more and settled into a course neatly mirroring that of the Darknova. Sensors were the next order, and he set them to seeking out what may be found in nearby space. The immediate vicinity was, however, fairly quiet.

"Odd..." Alpha said.

Dolen secured a link to the Darknova, the scan continuing in the background. "It will most likely be the inhabited planets or strategic spaces near the gate which they will inhabit in force. Shall we proceed further in, Kalli May?"

Kalli headed in toward the inner system, cloak up and keeping an eye out for hostile vessels. The only habitable planet in the Manitoba system was a frozen wasteland which bore a striking resemblance to its namesake.

Dolen set his craft to follow, but swept out on another arc to increase the coverage of their sensors, remaining barely within range of the Darknova in hopes of catching a return from nearer the warp gate.

The gate to the Toronto system, located near the planet Manitoba, was, however, sealed up and quiet. However, the sensors picked up a base under the surface of the planet that appeared to be inhabited. A forward base, no doubt serving as support to the Chaos force which had set out and made its clumsy strike at the New Scotland system. Strange that there was not a stronger presence here, Dolen mused as his craft arcs back on a course to rejoin the other ship.

Alpha seemed to agree with Dolen' thought. "Is it just me, or is this place more dead than it should be?"

Kalli replied, "There's been a rebel base on this planet since before the rebellion even really started. But it is shielded by coronite. That base you're picking up isn't part of it.

Alpha nodded. "Effective."

"Likely of the Empire or Chaos force," Dolen agreed thoughtfully, "Yet surely they did not send the whole of their garrison to intrude upon the next system..."

"Maybe they didn't like the skiing opportunities on Planet Manitoba," Kalli said wryly.

"There's a ski resort there?" Alpha asked with mock enthusiasm.

Kalli flew in toward the planet to get a better scan of the base. Dolen didn't even attempt to unravel the reference at the moment, intent instead on the question. Chaos was disorganized, true, but they rarely made such gross errors in judgment.

"Odd," he replied at last, "Perhaps a closer examination will clarify matters," and followed the Darknova to obtain as detailed a report as possible.

The base on the surface didn't appear to be any hasty construction, either. From the looks of things, it had been there for months if not years.

"And yet they leave it unprotected from forces which might appear in the skies above?" Dolen muttered. "Either their madness has grown beyond comprehension, or there is something more to that base than might be immediately apparent."

Alpha wasn't quite sure what to make of it.

"Or they don't realize we're here yet," Kalli replied. "Look again. There's concealed ground-to-air lasers and missiles down there."

"True enough," Dolen conceded. "Yet that would avail them little were a fleet to arrive en masse and rain kinetic strikes upon the world." Or, as had been seen on rare occasions from the Empire of Man, a weapon capable of destroying the world itself.

"This was probably built by pirates or Imperial Military forces, really," Kalli said. "It may not help against a concerted strike, but Manitoba just isn't important enough to put that much defense to. I suppose they figure if someone really wants to destroy the place, let them.."

Dolen shrugged mentally, the idea of leaving such a minor defensive array in place not only alien but pointless. Why waste the resources that might be better used elsewhere? "It would seem that this system is largely without threat value, then," Dolen remarked. "Perhaps the next in line is considered significant enough to defend."

"Heh. One jump away from here... is the planet Toronto, the capital of the Karzan Empire."

"Yeah... that's a biggie," Alpha agreed.

"Then this certainly is puzzling," Dolen mused. "They have left themselves nearly defenseless from this angle of attack. Were there a fleet able to take advantage of the situation..." he trails off in thought.

"The gate has been sealed," Kalli said. "That might explain it... The fleet we encountered in New Scotland may have come in from the south rather than the west..."

"Then perhaps our exploration should continue further in that direction," Dolen responded. "This system is, at best, one needful of cleansing once active forces are eradicated."

A squad of fighters left the base on a routine patrol. They didn't seem to pick up the two of them.

"Either way... not much point sitting around here." Alpha said.

"Beyond perhaps shadowing those craft," Dolen indicated the patrol, "and perhaps discovering something else which they consider worthwhile, I would needfully agree with you."

Kalli fell in after the patrol and tunes her sensors to listen in on their commlinks. Dolen swept outside the general arc of the patrolling craft, observing their trajectory in puzzlement more than anything else. This system made little sense.

A voice crackled over her comm as one of the fighters spoke to the others. "I'm getting nothing. I tell you, there's not a damned thing out here since the gate was sealed."

Another voice replied, "We have to patrol anyway. Who knows what could be sneaking around under our noses out here?"

All appearances would indeed seem to indicate that this system was, for all intents and purposes, utterly useless in terms of importance on any greater scale.

The patrol said, "We must check the jump holes to make sure nobody's sneaking through the system that way.

Dolen's interest sharpened at that, whether their 'secret' entry point was known to the inhabitants of this system knowledge worth having. Even if not, knowing the location of other such anomalies could prove useful at a later date. Alpha was similarly alarmed, but stayed silent.

They flew past the jump holes for Toronto, Paris, Lesbia, and the old jump hole to New Scotland. The one they came in through was ignored.

"Odd," Alpha said. "Why'd they skip it?"

"They don't know it's there, most likely."

Alpha nodded. "You'd think that they'd still find it eventually, though..."

"There are a lot of jump holes throughout the galaxy which are dead ends, unstable, lead off into infinite mazes from which people will emerge centuries later babbling insanely about demons if they emerge at all, most of which people tend to ignore when checking systems for reasonable routes."

Dolen maintained communication silence for now, the chance of detection even over secure lines beyond the worth of risking in such close proximity. He merely observed the path of the patrol, making note of their passing by the point they had entered through with some satisfaction.

"Echo Leader to Echo Base," said the patrol leader who had clearly watched too much Star Wars. "We've picked up nothing out here. No signs of Imperial infiltration or Chaos infestation. We're returning to base now."

No signs of Imperial or Chaos intrusion? That would seem to indicate that their point of origin was within the sphere of the rebellion then, perhaps something which should be pursued before departing this system.

Alpha snickered. "Well... at least we think they're the good guys."

"So it would appear, at first glance," Dolen replied in cautious agreement over the comm, "It may be worthwhile to investigate further." Provided, of course, that it was not merely a Chaos ruse.

Alpha picked up on his reservation. "That's why I said _think_ , and not _know_."

"I appreciate the distinction," Dolen replied with a faint chuckle. "No offense was offered, merely considering the possibilities of a ruse. It would not be beyond the inclinations of our foes to engage in such deception. They are remarkably adept at such, their recent abysmal failure in New Scotland notwithstanding."

"Of course... the use of such a ruse would indicate they know -- or at least suspect -- someone is listening," Alpha said. "I'd hate to speculate on the possibility that Chaos knows we're here."

"Or what capabilities and knowledge that would perforce entail," Dolen agreed readily. "We may not know without exploring the option, however, unless one of you possesses the abilities of a Farseer."

"I'm not familiar with that term..." Alpha said.

Dolen considered what he'd learned of their own terminology but found nothing which leapt immediately to mind as a comparison. "Hmm," he mused. "They are those few among my kind able to detect distant events, even through the warped skeins of time."

Kalli started heading over back toward the planet Manitoba again, not offering comment upon the situation.

"Well, unless they're warded or shielded with coronite, I could probably see what their uniforms look like with Seeking," Alpha suggested. "As far as using the Time aspect, though... I haven't had much training in that." Alpha shrugged, even though it didn't carry over the link.

"If you are able," Dolen replied, setting a course to follow, "Then it would serve us well. I would doubt that our foes would go to quite such lengths as that subterfuge merely to draw in unsuspecting listeners."

Alpha muttered under his breath about hoping it wouldn't give them away, either... then reached out to take a look inside one of the cockpits of the fighters. They were wearing Death Dancer insignia. No trace of Chaos symbols or the like.

"Well... they're dressed like Death Dancers," Alpha said. "Unless some of them are still in the Empire's employ, I guess we're safe with our first assumption."

"Death Dancers haven't worked for the Empire for four hundred years," Kalli says flatly.

Alpha blushed. "If you've told me that before, I forgot. Sorry."

That did not preclude their service to Chaos, Dolen tactfully refrained from adding. "One of our ships decloaking and addressing them may be of value, then," Dolen said instead. "I would, however, recommend that the other remain concealed for the moment."

"I'll talk to them," Kalli said. "They'll recognize me."

"Yeah... that makes sense," Alpha said.

"Agreed," Dolen replied. "I shall remain at standby for the moment then, and watchful for signs of treachery."

Kalli decloaked and approached the base. "Echo Base, this is Kalli May of the Dancers on the Edge of Death. Status report."

The reply was prompt and positive: "This is Echo Base. Situation normal, everything's quiet out here. Since we sealed the gate and have kept the jump holes clear, Chaos hasn't been able to get a foothold in this system."

Alpha smiled. Relatively good news.

Dolen merely listened, seeking any hint of abnormality in the conversation which might indicate duplicity or taint. It would appear that all was as it appeared, however. They didn't seem more than a little surprised that a Death Dancer as good as Kalli could slip past their patrols undetected. And why should they be? She was practically a celebrity with that. Dolen examined the interaction thoughtfully, then made a decision and deactivated the cloaking shield, diverting the power freed by it to more normal system requirements.

"Permission to land," Kalli said.

The base replied, "Granted. Head for landing pad B."

Alpha noticed him decloaking. "Might want to mention something about him."

The Death Dancers at the base were smart enough to realize he was with her, judging by the fact that she wasn't freaking out and shooting at him. Dolen settled into a course echoing the Darknova, precisely, adding further to their assumption that he was accompanying the recognized and allowed craft. He remained silent for now, however, leaving Kalli to deal with her order.

They came in to land at landing pad B. Which was thankfully shielded from the cold of the atmosphere, much to the relief of many of their visitors. Dolen settled his ship lightly to the side of the Darknova, and debarked in short order.

Alpha and Kalli headed out and into the base. There were Death Dancers on this base, and a smattering of random assorted rebels. Dolen walked lightly behind, observing those they pass in silence from behind the blank face of his helm. Odd that things seemed so calm this close to the heart of the Empire, but he supposed that their sealing the most direct route and only the more dangerous entries still available would allow for it.

Kalli went to a terminal and murmured to Dolen, "I want to know when they built this surface base. There was always a base here, but it was underground, shielded... They shouldn't need this here..."

"It does seem somewhat obvious in the face of recent Chaos activities," Dolen agreed quietly. "One must need wonder why such a place has not drawn the attention of the Empire while New Scotland did."

"It's recent, alright," Kalli murmured. "This base was built after the first incursions of Chaos into the galaxy."

"Indeed," Dolen muttered thoughtfully. "There is something more here than immediately rises to view, Kalli May, and it may not be wholly to our liking."

Kalli said quietly, "Something doesn't sit right here. It doesn't make sense..."

"Do you think this might be a trap of some sort?" Alpha wondered.

Kalli shook her head. "I don't think so... but we must use caution nonetheless. Something isn't right here."

Alpha nodded silently.

Dolen ruminated on their recent encounters, considering the forces of Chaos which they had run afoul of, and the nature of the Death Dancers and their inclinations does not reassure him. "Perhaps not a trap," he murmured, "But potentially dangerous nonetheless. Even the mighty may fall to rage."

"Trying to find what information I can on the other base..." Kalli muttered.

Alpha smirks in embarrassment.

"A splintered faction could readily be explained so," Dolen mused, his attention turning to watch the corridor they occupy as he added softly, "I would advise haste, Kalli May. Your interest is unlikely to remain unnoticed."

"It looks from these records as though the other base was compromised and sealed off..." Kalli said.

"Perhaps," Dolen allowed quietly. "Yet would you leave evidence of other events which might be found upon casual inspection? More to the point, did you discard your former allegiance upon treading the path of the Bloodseeker?"

"No, I did not..." Kalli murmured.

"Just so," Dolen responded simply. It was a clear and prevalent danger for any who walked a warrior's path, the bloody song of Khorne easily swaying the rhythm of battle to a search for blood and death beyond all sane appetites. Combine that with the Death Dancer philosophy, and appearances could indeed be deceptive.

"There _is_ a reason why Death Dancers train for absolute calm in battle, though," Kalli said quietly.

Dolen chuckled softly, little hint of humor to it. "And if you were to learn that even the Eldar have been known to fall to it, despite the discipline taught from birth and borne in the blood? We can hope it is not the truth, yet the worst must be prepared for."

"As far as I can tell by these entries, the other base on this planet was compromised by Chaos and they sealed it off and built this one..." Kalli said.

"Well, that _does_ make sense," Alpha said.

"They collapsed the entrance to the base and probably a good deal of its interior but aren't sure if there's anyone still alive down there, since the coronite prevents any accurate scans," Kalli went on.

"Sensible," Dolen replied evenly, nodding briefly, but added nothing more for the moment. It seemed logical enough in truth, but that did little to explain their continued presence and existence on the fringes of the Empire within a readily detectable facility. Time would need bring the truth of it.

"They sealed off the Toronto gate not long ago..." Kalli said. "After the Black Fleet arrived."

"Then perhaps is indeed all as it appears," Dolen responded quietly. "It would certainly mesh well with the state of events as we found upon our arrival, save perhaps one or two glaring curiosities."

"Sometimes the flaw _are_ only curiosities," Alpha said. "I'd still like to know what 'feels' wrong about this, Kalli..."

"That may well be it," Kalli said. "I don't think everyone on that first base are dead."

Alpha nodded. "Well... as unfortunate as that is... It isn't really call for alarm, unless you're suggesting they _know_ that and are just ignoring them for some reason."

"The Manitoba subterranean base runs off geothermal energy and has its own greenhouses, food, air, and energy production," Kalli explained. "Even if it _were_ completely sealed off from the surface, it could easily sustain itself for centuries..."

Dolen remained silent, thoughtful as the other two speculated, maintaining an alert watch and tending to speculation of his own borne of another world entire.

"But..." Kalli murmured. "What could they still do from trapped underneath miles of rock?" This question seemed mainly directed at Dolen, and un-rhetorical.

"What did the Foul Gods do when sealed away entirely beyond the ken of man?" Dolen answered her question with an easily answered one of his own. The implications were clear, how far that may had spread remained less so.

"We're going to need to deal with this more thoroughly than shutting them up underneath a frozen planet," Kalli said, shaking her head.

"Indeed," Dolen agreed. "And there may yet be that which requires doing once that is attended." He made a sweeping gesture indicating their location, then turned his palm upward in acknowledgement of uncertainty.

Kalli turned from the terminal and headed down the corridor for somewhere slightly less conspicuous to stand around talking. Dolen followed silently, watchful of the Dancers that they passed, oddly finding himself wishing for one of the frustrating Elkandu at the moment with their abilities to detect the foul presence of Chaos beyond the more obvious signs. Alpha followed silently as well.

Kalli slipped into an unused room with some chairs and such and locked the door behind them. "Alright, that'll do. Now... Plan of action...hmm."

Dolen remained at the door, but examined her statement carefully. "I would doubt that should some Chaos influence be found," he offered. "that we would be granted freedom and aid in investigating the site. Perhaps consisting first of discouragement due to 'danger' but becoming more insistent. Should we pursue this, it must be rapidly done and silent."

"Hence why I'd rather talk in here than skulking around some random corridor," Kalli said dryly. "One way or another, this must be taken care of."

Alpha nodded. "Agreed."

"Unless there is one in whom you might place utmost trust," Dolen said, "Then I would suggest that excuses be made and our leave taken. It will not require long for one of Chaos-bent to realize we are beyond their foul blandishments."

Kalli paced thoughtfully, tapping her forehead. "We'll deal with the other base first." Kalli said, heading for the door. "Then, if anything needs to be done here further... we'll see about that then."

Dolen nodded in silent agreement, unlocking and opening the door, stepping through without hesitation. His step was light and quick as they move to return to the landing field. Alpha headed back as well. Kalli climbed back into her Darknova with deliberation and promptly took off. The smaller El'dari craft followed shortly thereafter, its path veering suddenly off as they hit orbit and the cloaking field was re-engaged.

"Let them wonder," he commed to the Darknova, setting a course to rejoin the other ship.

Kalli likewise cloaked her own ship, then turned and brought them around in orbit over what had been the entrance to the other base. There was still evidence of blast damage and collapsed rock underneath the ice and snow that covered the planet.

"We will need find an alternative entrance," Dolen said. "I would presume that any known would also have been sealed, yet may there be a lesser known entry which was overlooked."

"I'm scanning, but I believe any secret back entrance would have been concealed by coronite," Kalli said. "I don't doubt that there is an emergency exit somewhere, though."

"Resorting to more primitive methods may be needful," Dolen replied. "Though such would create a possibility of detection from the other base if they have appropriate sensors running and are looking for it. Else, we may be reduced to manually searching upon the ground."

"Hmm," Kalli mused aloud. "Coronite scrambles sensors, but maybe Asura can tweak the sensors to be able to pick up _the coronite_."

She called over to the clone to do some tweakage to be able to pick that crap up more easily.

"Arrite, that worked!" Kalli said some minutes later over the comm. "I'm picking up where all the coronite traces are nicely now. Sending you coordinates to where the back entrance appears to be."

Alpha grinned. "Genius."

"Excellent, Kalli May," Dolen replied with enthusiasm. "Now to follow your lead to the source."

He turned his craft to rendezvous near the designated coordinates. Kalli brought down the Darknova into that general vicinity, taking it down to land in a snowdrift not far from the location where the traces of coronite were found. Dolen settled his ship nearby and disembarked quickly, the cold paid no heed within the controlled environment of his armor. He crossed to the Darknova through the snow, and awaited his companions, nodding to them in greeting as they emerged.

Kalli headed over to above the location where the coronite lines were detected. "Should be right here, directly underfoot," she said, pointing down at an unremarkable snowbank.

"Clearing the snow should be of little consequence," Dolen said. "Weapons set to low power should suffice and provide little chance to damage any mechanism hidden beneath."

He had begun to rethink his original evaluation, but the thoughts remain circling silently at the back of his mind. Kalli pulled out her blaster and set it to wide-beam and proceeded to do so. Alpha used some low-power Fire Magic to melt it, as well. Dolen merely stepped back and watched, motioning for them to desist as a metallic curve was unearthed. He waited for their acknowledgement, then crouched to sweep clear the outlines of the covering. When the snow was cleared away, a very obvious metal hatch set into the rock became visible. Kalli grinned a bit and put her blaster away, and went over to crouch by it.

"Eureka." Alpha examined the hatch.

"It would do well to see if your database of codes will gain us access, Kalli May," Dolen said, motioning to a control panel. They could likely cut through, but it would be far simpler otherwise.

Kalli poked at the control panel a bit and was surprised that the hatch simply opened without further ado. "It's not even locked. Weird..."

"That is..." Dolen began, then shook his head, setting the unease aside in favor of the current demands. He looked into the entryway, then slung his rifle over his shoulder to begin climbing down the ladder leading within.

Alpha peered inward. "Well, either no one's expecting company, or it _is_ a trap."

"I don't like this. We must be cautious." She went to climb in.

"No kidding." Alpha took up the rear, making sure no one was around the outside.

"Neither do I," Dolen muttered grimly from below them, descending as quickly as possible and moving to the side as he reaches the bottom, unslinging his rifle once more to cover the passage revealed. Subtlety was the province of limited numbers of the Chaos Gods, and none of them were ones he particularly wished to face the minions of at a disadvantage.

It was very dark inside. They might be eaten by a grue.


	15. Corruption on Ice

Kalli peered about the darkened tunnel, her eyes adjusting to the dim light, not wanting to light a light lest it call attention to their presence. Alpha's sight likewise adjusts, though he did wish he could risk making a small light.

Dolen walked quietly forward, the image enhancement within his helm sufficing for at least reasonable visibility. Nothing was immediately within sight, awaiting to leap upon them, and he motioned the others forward.

They came to a staircase and Kalli proceeded to descend the narrow stone stairs, winding down into the earth. Following lightly after, Dolen divided his attention between ahead and behind, lest the jaws of a trap be sprung whole about them. 

The stairs went down and down and down. They climbed down a great many stairs in the dark before finally reaching the bottom.

Another blank hatch opened into a storeroom, the entryway concealed amongst a stack of crates and seemingly part of the stack itself. The room was dark and cluttered with countless low lying objects to trip over or crash into. Dolen was merely glad that his helm was capable of compensating for the fact as he stepped neatly around several piles and moved quietly toward the outer leading doorway.

Alpha peered around. Kalli climbed out into the room, peering about the vicinity and squinting at the lack of light, alert for the slightest sound, but it was very still in here. For the moment at least.

"Careful of your step," Dolen said quietly, stepping to the hatchway leading out and looking back at the two questioningly before opening the door. Power still remained within the base, curiouser and curiouser. Alpha followed after Dolen.

"Right.." Kalli murmured, creeping through the room, hand on her gun in case something jumped out and started to shoot at her.

Dim light greeted them beyond, the hallway leading in either direction currently unoccupied but showing no real signs of neglect. No evidence was seen of violence or residue of active Chaos presence, but Dolen remained cautious as he stepped out and glanced at them.

"Does either of you have a preference in direction?" he asked softly, the layout of the facility wholly unknown to him.

Alpha whispered, "Think I should risk a small light? I haven't seen evidence that we're being watched..." Alpha peered around again for anything that could reflect a light and give them away. "Might as well go left."

Kalli smirked at Alpha. "Excellent decision making process." She turned and headed left.

Alpha shrugged. "Next time we should bring a map, then."

"I somewhat doubt that those at the other station might have accommodated such a request," Dolen replied with a faint snort, turning to follow the indicated direction.

Alpha rolled his eyes and covered the rear again.

Odd that the escape path had remained unsealed, in light of the 'Chaos contamination' and subsequent events, Dolen mused, lightly walking around a corner and coming suddenly to a halt. Perhaps best that it was something unusual to those crouched behind a barricade down the hall that turned the corner first, as they allowed for a momentary hesitation and a quick duck back around said corner.

"I believe," Dolen said lightly, "That something may be amiss." The statement was somewhat redundant as energy fire streamed down the hall just before them.

"Ya think?" Alpha commented.

Kalli frowned and whipped out her blaster, peering out around the corner and leaning back against the wall.

Alpha pushed back against the wall for cover and drew his baretta. "How many?"

"Three," Dolen replied readily, nodding aside to Kalli May. "All wearing that uniform."

Alpha looked at Kalli half-questioningly.

Kalli murmured, "But are they Chaos or not?"

"Yeah. No kidding," Alpha said.

"That," Dolen replied, "would be an excellent question. Shall we find out?"

He personally loathed the idea, but set his rifle aside and raised his hands into the air, then stepped around the corner... hoping his reflexes sufficed should they open fire once more. Kalli thought that was a fairly bad way to go about it, and kept her blaster at hand to start firing should this turn bad. Alpha agreed.

The Death Dancers were apparently in no mood to parley, or were simply quick on the draw as movement caught their eye at the end of the corridor. Question of Chaos or not remains moot as fire rains down the hall and slammed into Dolen' armor. Designed more for mobility than protection, it slagged in several places and burned through, the Eldar crashing against the opposite wall and sliding down.

Kalli didn't hesitate to leap into action, stun first and ask questions later, and brought down the attackers, but not quick enough to stop them from shooting at Dolen.

"Well, that was stupid," Kalli observed.

"Dolen getting shot, or them attacking us?" Alpha went to help Dolen up.

Dolen was accustomed to pain, but that did not mean that he enjoyed it, and he merely snorted at her accusation. Kalli went over to check on his condition after ascertaining that nobody else seemed likely to shoot at them in the immediate moments. She apparently couldn't believe he just did that.

Nodding briefly in appreciation to Alpha, Dolen raggedly gained his feet. "I shall live, if not pleasantly for a time." He had experienced worse by far in the past.

Alpha channeled a bit of Healing to Dolen to lessen the pain, but seemed confidant that Dolen would otherwise be fine.

"Well, the fact that they shot at you anyway is either a sign that they're not on our side, or that they're really paranoid about random people showing up in their base for no apparent reason," Kalli said.

"In all honesty, the second choice _is_ perfectly valid," Alpha pointed out.

Dolen returned to gather his rifle, the healing causing a momentary twitch in the scheme of things but overall shunted aside to be ignored. "Agreed, perhaps an examination is in order," he said. "Chaos will often mutate its followers, or other signs might be evident that such is not the case. If naught else, waking them should suffice."

Kalli went to keep watch for more of them and let him poke at them. "I don't like this all one bit..."

"Which part?" Alpha asked.

"All of it." She smirked.

"Wake one of them at your leisure, Alpha," Dolen said, content to remain nearby and keep them covered with his rifle.

Alpha tossed their weapons to the side and checked for other hidden weapons before picking one at random to wake up. Kalli glanced down at him momentarily as she kept watch uneasily. The Dancer woke with ease, internal workings likely having already been attempting to shake off the effects of the stun. He glared at Alpha but said nothing immediately.

"Alright, sorry about the stun, unless you're Chaos, in which case I'm not sorry," Kalli said.

"Quite diplomatic, Kalli May." Dolen chuckled lightly, although not greatly inclined to generosity himself at the moment.

The Dancer reacted with surprise to the name, looking around suddenly, but still remained silent, suspicious.

"Now, if we're done attempting to kill one another for the moment, will someone kindly explain what in the name of hell is going on here?" Kalli asked.

Her identity and real presence registered fully on the Dancer at last, and he worked his throat against the remaining effects of the stun. "You're really here?" he asked. "Please tell me it's not another of their tricks..." he finished on a clearly-plaintive note. The Dancer was quite young, overall, surely not beyond his early twenties at the most.

"Kalli May of the Dancers on the Edge of Death," she said.

"I can assure you, she's the real thing." Alpha didn't really have a soft spot for idolism.

It didn't so much appear to be a case of idol worship, in the young Dancer's case, more simply an edge of desperation and forlorn hope. He nodded sharply and pushed himself slowly up to sitting, not making any sudden moves. "Sorry, the sensors registered the entry and we've... well, things have been a little tense since the revolt."

"Revolt?" Alpha asked. "What happened?"

The Dancer shook his head, "The commander had better explain it. We were just sent to make sure there wasn't another break-in."

Alpha nodded.

"Presuming they aren't about to shoot at us too," Kalli said with a smirk.

Alpha chuckled.

"No ma'am," the Dancer replied with a grin. "Not as long as we comm it first and warn them we've got real, non-Chaos guests incoming. I think Commander Daling will probably be delighted to see you."

Kalli gave a nod, and said, "Alright."

Alpha helped the other two Dancers up. The Dancer nodded sharply, glancing over a bit nervously at the armored figure that only now was lowering its weapon, then called ahead on a comm. A brief, coded response was received and he stood, motioning them to follow him.

"I'll take you there, though you'll have to surrender your weapons," he added the last apologetically. "Too many weird things going on lately."

Alpha sighed. "Figures."

Kalli looked at him fairly distrustfully at that. Alpha didn't seem too enthusiastic about the prospect either. Kalli knew she has cybernetic weapons embedded in her body that they wouldn't be able to confiscate easily, but still didn't like the prospect.

"Not to me, ma'am," the Dancer replied, "And not till we get to the commander. It's... well, she's been pretty much all that's kept us alive and we've had to be awfully careful after some of the things that came in."

"Right..." Kalli murmured. "Lead on." She headed after him reluctantly.

The Dancer nodded and led them onward, deeper within the base, the lack of personnel disturbingly apparent as it was not until they near the command center that they encountered guards at all. "Commander Daling's expecting us," he addressed the guards, then looked at those following him, "This is the final checkpoint. Have to ask you to give up your weapons here."

Dolen shook his head once and stepped back to stand against a wall, blandly replying, "I will await here, and shall answer at need."

Kalli handed her weapon to Dolen, not trusting these folks with it just yet. Alpha did same. Dolen accepted the weapons without comment, quietly approving their wisdom of choice as he returned to sentinel duty with rifle only a trifle turned away from firing readiness at the guards.

The younger Dancer wasn't sure if that quite met with what the commander might wish for security purposes, particularly leaving someone who might have full reason to be somewhat hostile about getting shot at before fully armed outside, but... he led them through the secured hatch and into the chambers beyond. The first served largely as a communal room, with cooking facilities nearby. He stopped at a door opposite their entry and keys for entry, then motioned for them to enter while he remained outside.

Commander Daling stood behind a broad desk and nodded briefly to Kalli and Alpha as they entered. "Please, have a seat," she said, "I must say we weren't expecting any reinforcements or help at all. This is a bit of a surprise."

Kalli headed inside and took a seat. "We've been flying through the fringe systems scouring any Chaos presence that we came across. I don't think we would have gotten in here at all if it weren't for some clever work by my engineer."

Alpha sat as well, but seemed to be having trouble deciding whether the chair was comfortable or not.

The Commander settled back into her chair, listening closely to her guest, then nodded. "You're fortunate you survived as far as you did. Chaos forces are certainly running loose in all nearby systems, far more energetically than we might have predicted."

"Yes, we had to fight our way through New Scotland, we destroyed Theta Base and killed all those corrupted by Chaos in Omega Station," Kalli explained.

"I don't suppose you know if the gate to the Empire is still sealed?" the Commander asked. "That was the last action we were able to perform before than damned fool nearly destroyed us all." She scowled at the memory, then returned to blank impassiveness, that it showed at all an indication of her anger on the matter.

"It is," Kalli said. "What damned fool?" She raised an eyebrow.

Alpha listened intently.

"Captain Solo, damn him," she replied heatedly. "I don't know where he found the thing, probably while he was slumming around at one station or another, and it must have gotten to him before he brought it back here. Some kind of generator, one he didn't report, and it wasn't discovered until it had corrupted ninety percent of this base's personnel."

"A... generator? What?" Kalli frowned in consternation.

"I don't know," the commander replied. "I'm no expert on the things that're rampaging through this sector, all I know is that in the space of forty-eight hours I found the majority of my personnel suffering from delusions and displaying bizarre behavior, one which included incinerating himself and two others on the spot. I managed to locate the remaining Dancers and turn internal systems on them, but..."

"This is most bizarre..." Kalli said. "Was this destroyed, then? Or would that explain why I felt so uncomfortable in the surface base?"

Commander Daling shook her head, "No, he'd apparently gathered enough of his converts together to repel an attempted attack, there was no way to get to it. I assume he stowed it away on one of the freighters that were used to take those who survived elsewhere. We did what we could to speed their progress, or halt it completely, but they managed to escape with a greater percentage of available resources."

"Do you know where they might have gone then?" Kalli said worriedly.

"They destroyed our remote sensors," she replied with a snort. "And nothing local can reach past the mineral interference for any great length. There is also the small detail that they either made off with or destroyed all available spacecraft before departure, leaving us with few options. We suspect they remained somewhere near, as several attacks have been aimed at digging us out, but we can't be certain."

Alpha frowned. That didn't sound particularly reassuring.

Kalli gave a nod. "We'll deal with the Chaos presence in the system as soon as possible, then. What other immediate assistance do you require?"

"We're actually fairly well situated," the commander replied. "At least so far as the immediate future is concerned. We're going to need to regain contact with support forces and the ability to travel, but that can certainly wait on eliminating the Chaos infestation. If there's anything that we can do to assist, be assured we will happily do so. Lost some good men and women in this."

Kalli gave a nod. "We'll get on it immediately, then. I hope between the cloak and the coronite that they can't find where we parked our ships."

"Then you'd best go and check that they're still intact," the commander replied, rising. "I'll pass along the word that you're welcome here, there shouldn't be any unpleasantness on your return."

Kalli stood up quickly, and gave a nod. "Thank you, I'll be sure to pass along the apology to my companion for the holes in his armor."

Commander Daling cleared her throat lightly at the mention of the firefight earlier, but didn't apologize for it as her subordinates were doing what they had been trained and sent to do. She wasted no more of their time, seeing them escorted out and reunited, the Eldar still carefully alert on their return.

"All then is well?" Dolen asked levelly.

Kalli nodded to him, retrieved her weapon, and motioned to him to follow. "We must get to our ships as soon as possible."

Dolen was curious as to the passage of events, but remained silent through their return to their craft. He was already due several hours in repairing his armor, and he highly doubted he'd be given the opportunity to do so by the brevity of Kalli's directions. As they were climbing out, Kalli went over what the commander had said to her.

"Such workings are the dominion of the Changer," Dolen replied grimly, having listened with keen interest to the explanation, "and it would explain much to the more subtle unease which has plagued us about this system, although why this Captain Solo would fall prey to such manipulations is unclear. Your Death Dancers have not appeared to be greatly interested in power, yet it such which that one most readily offers in exchange for its damnation."

"There's always a few bad eggs in every group of sufficient size," Kalli muttered. "I'm inclined to believe her."

Dolen nodded in agreement. "As am I. The details which were presented are clearly within the reach of that Foul God and its artifacts. It does, however, leave us with a certain difficulty regarding the other fortification in this system. Our departure will have undoubtedly given rise to speculation, if not the rampant paranoia common to any of Chaos, returning openly would be, I believe, unwise."

"I agree," Kalli said. "I wanted to get to our ships in case they were somehow able to trace us. Between the cloak and the coronite, it's doubtful, but I don't want to suddenly be stuck planetside. What should we do with the other base?"

The ships were, thankfully, undisturbed and fully intact upon their return, Dolen mulling their options as they neared them. "The most likely effective option," he mused thoughtfully, "due to our lacking the resources of a fleet, will needfully employ more subtle measures and an indirect approach. Landing some distance away beneath the cover of cloak and infiltrating their defenses may be our only real choice."

Kalli gave a nod. "Sabotage will suffice. I hate having to resort to it, but I'm more inclined to practicality in getting the job done than needless heroism."

Climbing into his own craft, Dolen waited until she had embarked as well before resuming over the commlink. "Most installations do have sufficient machinery which might be used to effect their destruction," he agreed, "The most notable being the main power core, while another suitable option would be the storage facilities for the missile armaments our earlier sensory sweep detected. Either should suffice, readily."

"Roger," Kalli replied, flying the ship over in the part of the planet the other base was located on.

Dolen followed closely behind, maintaining a distance from the ground carefully estimated to minimize risk of detection and a threat of displacing a telltale trail on the ground below. "At the near end of the range of mountains encircling should serve us well, Kalli May," he said, gentling over in that direction, the proposed site placing them a good ten miles or more from the base but providing significant cover along the way.

Kalli went to set her ship down over where he indicates, absolutely not complaining about the prospect of having to walk all that way in -40 degree weather. At least they weren't going to expect anyone to try that.

The smaller craft settled neatly at the far side of a small hillock, the winds from the mountains barely a low howl sending snow swirling across the landscape. He took a few minutes performing basic sealing repairs on his armor, then disembarked and examined the terrain nearby. "Not wholly pleasant, but one doubts they shall expect our arrival upon such an unconventional path."

Kalli gave a nod of agreement as she came outside wearing clothing covering a bit more of her body than normal. That was, she was bothering to wear gloves and a mask this time. "No, I expect not. Let's get moving." She headed off over the ice and snow toward the base.

Dolen set off beside her, measuring his stride carefully so as not to pull ahead with the natural speed of his race. It wasn't really necessary, anyway, the distance was readily enough crossed in short order and they began to slow outside what could be presumed to be visual range. The terrain was flat and featureless, making for a good killing field, he'd grant them that. There were always ways, however. Kalli kept pace well enough, and a bitter wind cuts across the frozen wasteland.

They stopped to study the layout of their target, the prospect likely requiring a great deal more luck than they were entitled in this lifetime. Dolen mused on that, and altered that by the general disarray of Chaos forces when they believe themselves to be inviolable, their chances were perhaps even. Perhaps. Kalli thought they could succeed. They might fail, but then, not trying wasn't an option.

"Onward," Dolen said simply and moves forward once more in a ground eating sprint. With luck, they'd remain unnoticed in the frigid landscape, lost among the clutter that sentinels would possibly be ignoring or dozing over without any sign of invasion from the skies.

Fortunately (or unfortunately) the weather was fairly mild, well, aside from the wind and cold, but there was no immediate snowfall. Although a blizzard might conceal their approach, it might also be not very nice to walk through.

Dolen could have hoped for fouler weather, even barring the difficulties associated with passing through it, but ultimately the difference in detection probabilities were minimal when dealing with the sensors available in this age. He could only hope that the Bloody-Handed One would watch over and approve of their purpose. Regardless, their path led to a separate entrance than used before.

Kalli continued on across the snow, aiming for a different part of the base than where they'd landed. The morning sun glared out across the frozen landscape.

Their path was, unfortunately, entirely too close to one sentinel who was apparently either very alert or bored out of his mind. Weapons fire arced out in their direction in a very lackluster fashion, and Dolen was inclined to believe more the latter as he wove and ducked past the searing beams. Kalli was not quite so fortunate, one stray shot clipping and stopping her forward momentum.

Nearly straying into the stream of fire, Dolen swerved to his teammate and snared beneath her arm to steady and offer a moment of support, long enough to bring them within range of the newly visible sentry.

"Umph..." Kalli grunted, whipping out her blaster and glad that her personal shields stopped at least some of the attack. She took aim quickly to try to take down the enemy firing at them.

Perhaps he'd seen something, or more likely he was truly on the path of the insane, either way the quick-snapped return shot took the semi-alert guard neatly and dropped him. He was, luckily, the only one stationed outside the entrance or the only one crazy enough to accept the order or take it upon himself to do so, and they enter otherwise unmolested. Dolen took immediate account of their surroundings on the inside, searching for any signs.

Kalli ducked inside and mumbled, "You know, I never fail to be glad about getting those shields installed. Okay, where the hell are we now? Is this the back entrance or something?"

"You ask as if I know, Kalli May?" Dolen replied with faint, dry amusement, looking around for a terminal that they may gain access to. No sign of one is immediately found, however, and he crosses lightly to the hall leading from the entryway, "Your access codes may prove invaluable shortly, should a terminal be found. Until such time, however, walk carefully. I would not wish to explain your loss to our Patron." He chuckled quietly.

"It was a rhetorical question," she replied, creeping inside with her blaster firmly in hand in case anyone notices them and decides that they would be good to shoot at.

There was a faint crackling of energy in the air about them, neither of them likely to explain it away as a result of the dry winter-like air at this point, the sensation bringing faint unease. Dolen motioned down one of the connecting hallways and proceeds with rapid, quiet steps, counting the moments until their intrusion might be noticed. Fortune smiled on them as they rounded a corner, a terminal set within a niche in a wall.

Kalli headed over toward it, peering about uneasily. "I don't think I like this place," she whispered.

The terminal glowed quietly in the alcove, though its light seems subtly different from their last visit as though it pulsed faintly to the crackle of energy, surely an illusion... or not, Dolen refrained from an expression of anger as the lights flickered briefly in synchronization with the console and then returned to normal.

"It might be best to gain what we came for quickly, Kalli May," he remarked needlessly.

Unfortunately, she found that the codes she'd used so recently had either been changed or simply no longer worked as the terminal refused to respond with sullen silence.

"No luck," Kalli muttered, restraining herself from smashing the terminal in annoyance. "My codes won't respond. I think they're onto us. We'll have to try another approach."

"Finding another warden of this den," Dolen responded, "will likely be our greatest asset, should they provide amenable to persuasion." The faintly ugly turn of his voice at the last showed no hesitation for resorting to less than pleasant means to acquire what they would need to continue this mission. The difficulty might revolve around the issue of finding one within reach and beyond the reach of their support.

He idly regretted the lost opportunity of their former sniper, but dismissed it readily and moved to continue down the hall. Oddly, they had seen no one on their journey thus far, while their last venture had found them scattered here and there.

"I don't like the look of this," Kalli murmured again as she went along with him quietly. "Something isn't right here... Something feels very, very wrong..."

"Something is indeed amiss, Kalli May," Dolen readily agreed, the long held paranoia of the Eldar nearly screaming in his blood by this point. "We should make haste, at all cost. The feeling arises that we have arrived at a most inopportune moment in the workings of the Changer."

He dispensed with the cautious advance, breaking into a lope and continuing corridor after blank corridor. A most ill omen indeed. Kalli moved along quickly as well, quietly cursing under her breath.

Their path wound this way and that, still finding no sign of any of the Death Dancers who should be going about normal duties on this day as with any others. Unease continued to grow as they moved on, the very air seeming to take on an electrified life that became stronger with each step. Dolen stopped suddenly, listening, and a faint sonorous chant could be heard in the near distance, a foul song composed of many voices.

"This," he said, "is not the path which we seek." He then turned to retrace their steps and find another route. He had no desire to see what lay beyond that corridor, nor inclination to meet the mendicants at their foul rites.

If she had still held any doubts as to the corruption within this base, she definitely didn't now. Kalli moved along with haste, and thought that this was one of those situations in which a normal person might be feeling that "fear" thing.

Reaching the last fork in the corridors, Dolen took another hall and proceeded along it quickly. Fear might be an issue, were it not for the rigid frame of self-discipline and the molten hatred of Chaos at his core. He wanted only to find their target and see them returned to the hell of the Warp that spawned them! Several untenanted security checkpoints were passed along the way, giving hope to the trail.

Their goal finally drew within sight, an armored door all that stood between them and the explosive storage facility that would be used to obtain their purpose. "The codes," he nearly snarled. "There must be another way within!"

Kalli tried it, and tried the emergency backups or manual release that should be there as well, making all due haste in the process. Kalli took the time needed to disable the alarms attached to the manual override, careful to cut the proper wires although wincing mentally and listening for a klaxon with each one. Satisfied at last that it was done, she hit the override and the door swung ponderously open. The shrill glaring of the klaxon reminded her that perhaps she should have cut the fuchsia instead of the lavender wire.

"Time is certainly not our ally," Dolen remarked with aplomb and ducked into the ammunition depot to begin working on the job at hand, not now certain that they may escape were the minions of the Changer to intervene in the meantime, but determined that they would return those spawn to their rightful state.

Deep in the heart of the complex, Captain (Now General, thank you!) Solo looked up from his devotions and ministrations to the device he'd been blessed with finding, the klaxon barely noticeable through the roar of power building in his head but nonetheless bringing a distant thought that something important was wrong and should be dealt with.

"Undoubtedly," Dolen murmured absently, setting about the task of arranging for an untimely demise to the depot, not wholly content with the haste which he must needs work under and certain of only one of the three devices even being functional. It would needfully suffice, at least hopefully, for the one should create a cascade of explosions as the warheads were breached one by one.

The last of his set, he looked over to check on Kalli's progress, content as she broke off from her own last device and he nodded to her. "Time and past to be gone," he said evenly, checking his rifle with habitual ease, "Be prepared. I could hardly merit their paying this clangor no heed, regardless of ceremony."

General Solo, in fact, had only recently broken away from the ceremony with a full and resounding string of invective, the ritual to break open the gate and firmly cement Tzeentch's power in this space shattering and its power flowing in queasy waves outward. Oh, someone would pay for this, he swore, and ordered his minions to the offensive. He, personally, would see that the device was escorted safely away, off-planet by preference.

Kalli, blaster in hand, proceeded to head for the exit posthaste, not especially caring to be here when the explosives go off. Dolen couldn't agree with her unspoken sentiment more, and he leapt out the door and took off through the corridors at a light run. Fortunately, they had passed several exits while looking for the depot and they would have little difficulty finding and making use of them in short order, provided the base's defenders did not prove too greatly meddlesome.

The defenders in question had swarmed from the ritual chamber quickly after their orders had been given, long training as Death Dancers serving them with some degree of success to stave off the psychic shock of the shattered energies. Their outward advance was perhaps slower and less steady than might otherwise be expected, but nonetheless dangerous.

Solo found his own path readily enough, though the weight of the generator dragged heavily at him and his own inherent slothfulness serving him equally poorly at shunting aside the shock. He couldn't be sure what the intruders might have done, but he was determined to get away before any harm might come of his glory!

Kalli bolted for the nearest exit, shooting anything that gets in her way and making some use of her gravity implants to speed her up a bit in the process. She didn't really give a damn how cold it was out there... it was going to get awfully hot in here soon.

Their passage was a blur through the corridors, a stray blast of energy searing a wall as they near an exit but impeding them not in the least as both go hurtling out into the frigid air. Dolen didn't slow in the least at that point, wanting to put as much distance between himself and the fury of what should shortly be unleashed, worried less upon those following them than the fire.

The Dancers crackled with varied energies as they ran through the corridors, two incompatible clashing with each other and soaring into an unstable and ultimately lethal explosion that reduced the pursuing force dramatically. The remainder continued unevenly, a considerable distance behind their prey at the last.

General Solo wheezed and looked at the machine in his arms, scowling at it and the delay it was causing him, then cursed and let it fall. Fortune had never been his friend, however, or perhaps Chaos is merely demanding its pound of flesh this day as it crashed and turned his foot into a rather unpleasant jelly. He and the Dancers shared a similar view at the end, the timers at the depot reaching zero.

Two failed to detonate at all, but it mattered not in the least as the third exploded in a brilliant fireball that incinerated the casings of the others and proceeded to act precisely as Dolen might have hoped. The shockwave of the multiple explosions ripped through the base and slammed outward like the fist of a God...

Kalli, fleeing from the scene as fast as making "down" directly in front of her would manage, glances back for a moment as the base went up in flame. "Sweet," she murmured. "And good riddance to them!"

"My sentiments precisely," Dolen agreed heartily, after picking himself up after the blast, watching with appreciation as the flame boiled upward into the sky. A faint glimmer of awe passed through him as he might almost swear to have seen the eyes and mouth of the Furnace looking back from the fires with speculative approval. "Surely not," he muttered and looked away, suddenly intent on discerning the path back to their ships.

Kalli stared for a few moments, put the gravity back on "down" properly again, and proceeded to walk normally with him now that they were not in immediate danger of being blown up as well.

"I could do with a week's peace," Dolen remarked idly, walking along heedless of the arctic chill, "Though I suspect I shall needfully be content with time spent aiding your Commander Daling in establishing communication with those of New Scotland who might be glad to aid and receive such in return," he shook his head, and continued quietly, "Provided the War God does not see fit to find another task for us sooner."

"Ah, flying around, climbing up and down a mile of stairs, trudging back and forth across miles of frozen tundra, running from explosions... all in a day's work," Kalli chuckled softly.


End file.
